In a World without Dreams
by aliedcam1
Summary: A device is released upon the masses, one that is extremely powerful. Some call it the greatest Video Game system, the first personal Supercomputer. But what is it exactly? Larry Thompson must finds out as he survives in this fake and holographical world.
1. Prolouge: DreamLand

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the popular media references in this story. The idea and the plot are however, mine. _

**Prologue: The Device**

Larry Thompson sat up as he awakened at his usual early hour. It was Saturday, and as he did not have to work that morning, he almost went back to sleep. Then he remembered what he had picked up the night before. It had taken him nearly three hours of standing in line waiting his turn to pick up the highly-popular creation of John Call: The World of Dreams, or DreamLand. An instant hit across the world, it was a computer that was roughly the size of an iPOD. It was capable of projecting an image directly into your mind and was connected to a huge network called DreamLand.

Mr. Call had been ridiculed for creating the first Matrix, but he replied that humans controlled this machine, not the other way around. At first the market had been uneasy about purchasing the device, but after the first month and many positive reviews later, sales took off. Larry saw no reason to chastise John Call about his device, except maybe for the price tag.

Larry got up. His small apartment was crossed in only a few strides to where he had set the DreamLand device on top of the mini-fridge. He pulled it out.

The thing did look like an iPOD, but it was remarkably different in purpose. It was jet black, and in addition to head phones, the device had four extremities: two sensor pads to put on your temples and another two sensors to attach to your chest. It had two earpieces that went into your ears so deeply that ear wax would come out after even the shortest time of use. Should something go wrong, such as death inside of DreamLand, or a strain on the heart, the system would then immediately wake you up.

Larry plugged the device into the wall. He then applied the pads and earphones where the instructions told him they went. As he fired up the device, he fell into a deep sleep, courtesy of the World of Dreams' ability to stimulate the parts of the brain needed to simulate sleep. The sleep that overtook him was not the kind that would offer life-giving rest, but one that would ultimately make the user more exhausted than when he started...as the Warning Label pronounced on the device itself.

What Larry did not realize was he would personally go on an adventure that would test both his body and mind, and that he would have to rise to the occasion time and time again to avoid insanity, or else the possibility of his own ultimate demise...


	2. Chapter 1: Appearance on Dantooine

_I must've dreamed a thousand dreams  
Been haunted by a million screams  
But I can hear the marching feet  
They're moving into the street._

**Chapter 1: Appearance on Dantooine**

Larry picked himself off the ground and looked up, immediately wishing he had not. He was on a large grassland, completely surrounded by..._nothing_. It was completely barren. The sun glared down at him in what he thought might be a midday position, but this sun was different than the one he was used to. Mystified, he looked around. The reviews for the DreamLand device had not been mistaken; it was as though he actually existed here and his other life in another place was on hold.

On the ground in front of him was a large suitcase, and it seemed out of place for a world that had nothing around it...so Larry bent over and opened it.

A man sprang out of the suitcase, looked around, and said: "Hello and welcome! My name is John Call. I am the creator of DreamLand. You have arrived at a randomly-selected location, which in this case is 'Dantooine.' This suitcase contains your first, and – perhaps - only free equipment that you will receive! I would like to thank you for joining the World of Dreams, where anything is possible!"

The image disappeared and it became apparent to Larry that it was a recording. However, it was so real, it was as though John Call had actually stood right there talking to him.

Leaning over the case, Larry nearly gasped. Inside was a small PDA — he had always wanted one of those — and a long-barreled rifle with a scope. There was a also box of .30 caliber bullets. This weapon he knew only by name and reputation: Springfield '03 model, made by the Springfield armory in 1903, with a five-round magazine. It was used in both WWI and WWII.

_Interesting that I should obtain this weapon_, he thought.

Larry knew that calculating how much money one has in his account was one of the many uses of the PDA. The funds were a generic unit, as currency was so varied among the users of the system; besides, it was easier to carry in an electronic form. The PDA was also used for contact information and "other uses."

Picking up his equipment, Larry started out across the plain. According to the map on his PDA, he was on his way to a local farmer's home. From there he could get a ride to the nearest spaceport or wherever he needed to go. As Larry walked, he loaded the Springfield and tested out the sights. He hoped he'd be able to find more ammunition along the way.

Fortunately, the rifle had a sling, which he used to sling the firearm over his shoulder. He would have to replace the rifle — he thought idly, as the grass went by — because its bolt action would not be quick enough for his purposes, which included more close-quarter combat.

As Larry continued along, he heard barking. This was no ordinary dog barking like what he was familiar with on Earth. It was a louder type; one that snarled of aggression. After a moment, he heard multiple howls coming from ahead of him, which got louder as he neared.

Larry peered ahead, but all he saw was the glare of the sun and grasslands. More barking. He pulled the Springfield rifle up to his shoulder, squinting through the sun and the scope to find the source of the noise. He caught movement on a ridge just where the sun rested. He squinted even more, and saw the shape that resolved in the scope's crosshairs throw back its head and howl.

Abruptly, shapes came out of the sun at him. They ran low and fast; the barking and snarling increased. _They **are** dogs_, Larry realized. _Four or five extremely vicious ones, if they are coming at that speed._

Taking no chances, Larry raised the rifle again, lined up an on-coming beast in his crosshairs, and squeezed the trigger. Larry had shot off a few guns before in reality, but most of his shooting experience came from the games that had led him here. The bullet, rather than going into the head of the lead dog, blew into the dog's front right leg. With a snarl, it hobbled and continued onward.

They were close now, maybe a hundred feet or so and closing. Working the bolt on the rifle, Larry forced himself to calm the panic that arose in his mind. He lifted the rifle again, not even needing the scope to aim. They were so close. He squeezed the trigger, and...BOOM! An explosion rocked the center of where the dogs had been. They flew in all directions. Larry threw up his hands to keep dirt and rock shards out of his eyes.

Overhead floated the last thing Larry expected to see in the middle of nowhere: A UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter. There was a man sitting on the outside of it holding a smoking..._thing_. What he held had six chambers and a very large muzzle. Larry did not want to be on the business end of that thing. The helicopter landed a short distance away. The man leaning out of it with the large gun in his hands was waving frantically. Larry decided not to wait. Loading another round into the chamber of his Springfield, he quickly sprinted toward the helicopter, ducking low to avoid the spinning blades.

"What the heck are you doing out here?" the gun-toting guy said, under a pair of sunglasses and in an accent. He patted the pilot on the shoulder, and the helicopter lifted off.

"Don't you know that the Kath Hounds are incredibly vicious at this time of year?"

"Kath Hounds?" Larry screamed over the whine of the engine, "What are those?"

The peculiar man with the accent looked hard over his glasses at Larry. "Oh, I get it. You just showed up, didn't you? Well, can't say I blame your ignorance then...especially since you got pajamas on."

That was the first time that Larry noticed that he was indeed wearing PJs…this was most unusual, as he would normally notice something like that.

"Let me guess, you haven't come up with a name either?"

Larry still could not place the accent; he thought English or French, but he could not be sure.

"I have too!" Larry said defensively, and snapped his mouth shut. That sounded like he was a six-year old. "It's Harrod the...H...ha...Harrod the Barbarian."

The man in sunglasses threw his head back and laughed. "You hear this, Biff?" he shouted to the slim man at the controls, who just nodded back. "All right, all right, 'Harrod.' Can you shoot with that Springfield?"

"I can shoot...and thanks."

"Thanks for what? Saving you? It's no problem. I got to try out my baby," Sunglasses said, patting the no-longer smoking weapon on the stock.

Larry frowned at it, "What _is _that?"

"Oh this? I just got it. Picked it off of a raider out on Xantex IV, when recruiting for our clan. It's a grenade launcher. Biffy and I think it's from, like, the Soviet Union or something. Or maybe Mr. John Call just made it up. All I can say is that it looks familiar and blows shit up everywhere." Sunglasses pulled off his pair and wiped off the grit that was not there.

"What is your name?" Larry shouted as the pilot – _Biffy?_ – pulled the Blackhawk in a steep rise over a ridge in the grasslands, scattering some more of those dogs – _Kath Hounds?_ – that had gathered on the hill.

Sunglasses looked like he was going to shoot out the window at the Kath Hounds, but decided against it. "Spacer," he said. "My name is Spacer."

"Where are you from, Spacer?"

"Holland."

"Oh. Where are we going?"

"Chill out, man. We got a ways to go yet and you'll exhaust my knowledge of information pretty soon. We are going to get you some clothes and then we'll let you find your own way. How much money do you have?"

Larry pulled out his PDA and checked, "1000."

"Good, we should be able to get you some clothes. We're heading to an old Jedi enclave where merchants are popping up out of the ground."

The ground broke apart from under the Blackhawk and the pilot, Biffy, flew down into a helipad so quickly that Larry grasped for a handhold, almost losing his rifle out the open door. Spacer snickered as they rolled out through the door.

A tall, light-haired man, who could have been in his early 20s, was standing outside of the entrance to the helipad. Larry noticed his slim frame combined with a pale face that was more used to showing no expression than any expression at all. The man stared, expressionless, at the three coming out of the UH-60.

The pilot, Biffy, and the gunner, Spacer, snapped to attention and saluted. Larry just strung the Springfield over his shoulder.

"At ease," said the pale-faced man. "What did you find?" he asked, with a glimpse at Larry.

"Sir! We managed to find a large number of Kath Hounds and grass, Sir. Only find we did manage was Harrod the Barbarian here."

"He was being attacked by Kath Hounds, Sir, and he only had a bolt-action rifle," Biffy added for the first time. His voice was higher than Larry expected. In fact, he realized that not only was Biffy's voice high pitched, but he was somewhat smaller...he only came up to the officer's chest.

The officer strode over to where Larry was standing. "Did you just arrive?" he asked.

"Yup," Larry replied. "Who are you?"

"My name is Whitestar. I am a Captain in the CH...'Clan Hunters'," Captain Whitestar replied.

Larry frowned, " 'Clan Hunters,' Sir? What's a 'Clan'?"

Whitestar blinked, as though not hearing what Larry had just said, then answered, "Clans are people who share similar feelings, are a team, and an army. With the invention of Dreamland, CH has extended into it. As we all have different skills, we use them to protect our clan and our base and recruit to become the strongest clan. Since Dreamland is new to us, we only have a handful of transport cruisers at the moment and are looking for a base...place to call home."

"I see. Well, I thank you guys for helping me out back there." Larry turned to walk toward the nearest booth to pick up a nicer outfit than the pajamas he had on.

"Wait just one second. This will not take long," Whitestar said, with such an air of authority that Larry turned around and shifted the rifle. "Do you have any skill with that rifle? Or, don't you know?"

Larry shrugged.

"Alrighty. If you give us 500 of your funds, we'll take care of you. Get you some clothing. Set you up with better equipment. That kind of thing. If you decide not to join, we'll just let you go. And, you can have your 500 back...with the clothes, if you want."

Larry thought it over. He'd never been in a clan before, maybe this would work. If worse came to worse, he'd just leave and go elsewhere.

"You guys said you were looking for a base?" Larry said.

"That's for clan members only," Biffy snapped.

With a sigh, Larry decided it would be better to join for a short time. It might work out for the best.

Pulling out his PDA, he tapped the screen to transfer the 500 into the PDA that Whitestar had on his person.

"Where do we go now?" he asked.


	3. Chapter 2: Rendezvous on the Pride

**Chapter 2: Rendezvous on the_ Pride_**

Larry stretched the sleeves on his jacket as he examined the stitching and the dark black color of the uniform.

"This was the best you had?" he asked, looking over the sleeve at Whitestar.

Whitestar shrugged. "We haven't really received much in the way of a standard uniform yet. We got that outfit off of the same raider who took a pot shot at our Blackhawk on Xantex IV. It's fairly nice."

"It wears like it's made of canvas! I'll bet no one has issued a uniform like this since World War II!"

"Hey, if you don't like it, we'll give you something else later. Alright?"

Larry nodded and moved to the back of the small transport spacecraft. The shuttle was a short, stubby thing, with just enough room for roughly four people in the back and a pilot and co-pilot in the front. To Larry it felt like a large box with attachments on the sides that served as engines. Whitestar said it was a shuttle from the Star Trek series, so Larry had started calling it "Shuttle 03."

Larry took a seat down where he had set his stuff in between Biffy and Spacer. Biffy was starting to nod off. How was that possible? Weren't they already asleep here in DreamLand? Larry posed this question to Spacer.

"Of course we sleep here! That's how we wake up in reality. Time works differently here. We sleep here while we are physically awake. That's how our bodies sustain themselves here. You can die here too, remember. So, it's best if you find a safe place to rest or else someone will shoot you while you are not logged into the device," Spacer explained.

"I think Biff here will nod off soon. He can't stay up that long. The system won't allow it; you cannot remain for more than five hours inside of the Dream with out real sleep...it's too exhausting." Spacer looked cockeyed over his pair of eyeglasses, "Didn't you read the manual on all of this stuff? You can check how much realtime you have spent in DreamLand on your PDA. Time moves differently here, like I said."

The shuttle gave a shudder as Larry laid the rifle across his lap and pulled the PDA out of his pocket. Flipping it open, he pulled out the stylus and tapped it to the 'clock' option. The screen read _3:59 minutes remaining_. Larry sighed, "How much time do you have left, Spacer?"

"About 30 regular minutes. Seems that I will have to leave shortly, but neither Biffy nor I will leave until we're safely out of the Dantooine system. Then we cannot be hijacked by anyone or attacked. It's pretty cutthroat around here. Any other clan will gladly relieve us of this shuttle."

"How would they do that? Or how would we defend? It seems this is a little more than a shuttle?"

Spacer grinned, "We have our ways." And with that, he pulled his cap down, signaling the end of the conversation.

Larry got up to the front of the craft and sat in the co-pilot's seat next to Captain Whitestar. The coat he was wearing was still itchy and old feeling, plus the sort of forest green color of the pants did not match the coat. He could not wait to get the regular CH uniform. "Sir? Can I ask you a question? Where are we headed exactly? I may be new to all of this, but I really want to know where we might be going, in case I recognize it."

Whitestar looked up from the controls. "We're going to a place that our Flagship scouted out. It's just another ship just like this one, but it's got the flag on it, hence the name Flagship. Fleet Admiral Ben and the rest of his company are already there. They have found a base that they find suitable for our clan. High Command is enroute from Earth as well, on another ship like this one," Whitestar explained.

"The flag?"

Whitestar gave Larry the same look Spacer had just given him, "Don't you understand anything? The flag is...well...it's the flag!" Whitestar ran fingers through his blonde hair, a hint of a frown showing on his emotionless face.

"It is what is important to the clan. Getting another clan's flag back to your base is rewarding because your clan gets 50 of the defeated clan's remaining funds. Besides, it is really embarrassing and a new flag must be made. That is, unless the victor clan is willing to give the old one back, which they won't be."

Larry considered, "Then why hasn't the High Command taken possession of the flag and the ship it's on? Why this Admiral Ben?"

Whitestar looked at him consideringly, "You are not completely unintelligent, it seems. That is because it is the first place an enemy would think to look. Nikita trusts Ben, and it was the _Pillar of Destiny_ that found our new base. Travel between two points here is nearly instantaneous, but unless we enter 'travel' space, as it's called here, we will simply be incinerated. That's why good navigators are a good thing to find. Good for us, I am a good navigator. But, I still prefer to call it 'warp' space and not 'travel' space...I believe John Call ran out of names when he designed that..."

Larry shrugged and hefted the Springfield out of the seat and moved towards the back again as Whitestar called out, "Why don't you sit here in the co-pilot's chair? That way you can get a nice view of a jump."

So, Larry put his rifle down and sat in the co-pilot's chair. The space around them thinned out into one long, continuous white light and the space went from being dark to being bright white in a single moment. A moment after that, it reverted back to normal space.

As Larry opened his mouth to ask another question, a loud Klaxxon went off inside of the cabin and Whitestar sat straight up. Biffy and Spacer came to as well, instantly alert and wide awake. "Gou'ld Mothership!" shouted Spacer, as he noticed a large, pyramid-shaped vessel hovering just off the surface of a green, gaseous giant.

"What's a Gou'ld Mothership?" Larry screamed over the Klaxxon.

"Gou'ld are parasites that use humans for hosts, one of the things that John Call incorporated into the system. No Gou'ld or Jaffa, which is their soldier, actually exist, but they still plot and attack any human they can get their hands on. If you get captured, you're better off dying and getting a new account!" Biffy explained all in a rush.

Whitestar was jerking backward and forward on the control stick looking for a way out, with absolutely no shock or feelings on his face, almost as though he either expected this or was not surprised.

Larry took it that this Captain Whitestar had a large amount of control over his emotions. While looking out past Whitestar's seemingly carved-out-of-rock face, Larry saw three other small shuttles sitting calmly on the rim of the system. He was just about to open his mouth and tell his spooked friends this, when the loud speaker on the shuttle's comm system crackled to life.

"_Pillar of Discovery, _this is _Pillar of Destiny_, Master Chief Hero speaking. Admiral Ben requests that you meet him onboard the newest collection to our fleet. I'm sure you have noticed the Gou'ld Mothership in orbit there? It's being renamed _Pride of Clan Hunters, _as at the moment it's stronger than any other ship any clan owns. Though I doubt any of them know it yet or where to find us…eh, Whitestar?"

With Hero's words, the entire cabin went from being very tense to very relaxed in a heartbeat. To Larry it felt as though he was coming off the street during a blizzard into his favorite Pub amongst friends.

"Roger, Hero. How do we board?" replied Whitestar, thumbing a button in the dashboard of the shuttle.

"The shuttle bays themselves are all not functional at the moment, so I believe that we will have to use your shuttle's teleporter. Good thing the Federation decided to put short-range ones in those shuttles, eh?"

"Roger, Hero. We do not know how to work ours at the moment. Seems no one decided to get a degree in engineering to figure it out."

"Yeah! And Whitestar does not even really know how to fly this thing!" Spacer shouted into the communications to Hero on the other end.

A look of what might have been vexation crossed over Whitestar's face, but it was gone so fast Larry was not sure he ever saw it in the first place. "Can you operate your system and take us aboard the _Pride?_" he asked.

"Sure thing. Stand by, Sir."

Larry stepped into a heavily armored and heavily gilded hallway that looked as though it were made up of a lot of golden bricks — not a metal that any space-going vessel would be made out of. Larry was going to ask about it when he noticed something that he had not considered in the short time he had been there.

A _girl_ was standing down the hall dressed in a completely camouflaged outfit, except for her boots, which were black. She had a deadly grace about her, like what he felt off of soldiers back in the States when he saw them walking by. She even had eyes that scanned as though expecting attack at any moment. But that was not what surprised Larry the most. She had a long curved sword down her back. The hilt was protruding out from her long, black hair, as she stood as though expecting to have to reach for it.

Her eyes shot right over to where Whitestar, Biffy, Larry, and Spacer were standing and she snapped to attention.

"As you were," Whitestar said to the girl. "Can you tell me where Ben is?"

"Sir. He requested you meet him on the bridge of this excellent vessel. Ownage, Cano, and Fury are there already. He does, however, request that your underlings report to the shuttle bay. He instructed me to show them the way."

"Thank you, Lt. Commander Tex. I'll let you lead them. I know my way around this...ship..." Whitestar trailed off as he walked beyond the next bulkhead, which had a large number of fancy pictograms.

"This way," she said, waving with her hand.

After a couple odd turns and a couple staircases down a few decks of gilded hallway, Larry, Spacer, and Biffy all stood in front of a large door that had even more hieroglyphs plastering the front of it. The door hissed open as Tex stood before it.

Inside was another ship that appeared to take the form of a pyramid, only the edges of the pyramid bowed inward, looking like a tent draped over a frame. Near the ship, a goodly number of people were all talking and pointing at various weapons. The general feel of the room was a friendly sort of congregation, and Larry could see every single kind of person present. Although, most surprising was that most of the room snapped to attention with the entrance of Tex, except for one man who was dressed in a long, tan trench coat with a Lt. Colonel's rank stripes on his broad shoulders. He had long hair that was stringy black and the two bulges under his coat told Larry he was carrying a large amount of firepower. While Tex's prowl and dangerous stalk — which gave Larry the impression of a stalking leopard — made him wary, the relaxed stance of the Lt. Colonel made Larry uneasy.

"At ease," Tex said, flinging her hair over her shoulder. "The _Pillar of Destiny_ has arrived. We now have four shuttles in addition to the one that was captured by Fury when he took the _Pride_. Furthermore, Alpha Two has finally figured out the transport system. Here are Ben's orders: The _Pride _is to become our new Flagship once Nikita, Bobby, and the rest of High Command arrive from Earth, shortly. In the meantime, we are sending fire teams down into the surface of the Ring to find and discover a new base location for CH. All of the members of the clan are to be connected by radio to the Mother ship here. Split up into four groups and we will send those groups down. I will lead the first one. Lt. Commander Recon will lead Fire Team 'Bravo.' Commander Fate will lead 'Charlie.' And, 'Delta' will be led by Lieutenant Junior Grade Justice. Any questions? No? Good. Dismissed."

The crew looked at Larry questioningly, but he was under the impression that these guys were new to DreamLand as well, and that it would not be unusual to have new people show up without warning.

Tex stood next to Biffy, Larry, and Spacer as they started checking weapons. A tall, slim person with unruly hair eyed the rifle Larry was checking and sauntered over to him.

"Howdy, there," said the boy, in a strong Southern drawl that was reminiscent of the American Deep South. "My name is Fox. Pleasure's mine. I noticed you have a long rifle there, a Springfield 1903 .30 caliber, if I am not much mistaken. Can you shoot with that?"

"I can, somewhat. I'm Lar...Harrod the Barbarian. I am looking to replace it though, as I prefer getting close to my enemy and a long rifle with a bolt action is not what I had in mind."

Fox's eyes lit up as though he had just heard exactly what he wanted to hear. "Ya see, I've been lookin' for a Springfield ever since I entered the World of Dreams, but I haven't found it because fate has conspired against me." A man with pale skin and bright blue eyes looked over when Fox mentioned fate. "Not you, Sir. I mean 'fate'...'karma'...'destiny'?" Fox's voice rose in pitch as the superior officer rose an eye brow, and then turned and began talking to the cowboy-dressed Lt. Commander…_Recon?_

"Anyway, I'd like to trade you this…" Fox produced a small handle that Larry first thought was the handle bar off of a bicycle, but Lt. Commander Tex's open gaping told him to look again. "It's a lightsaber, Harrod. You want it?"

Larry looked the rifle over in his hands and then handed Fox the rifle and the box of remaining bullets from his coat pocket. "That's all very well and good," Tex spoke up for the first time, "but do you know how to use that, Harrod?" she asked.

"No. Why?"

"That's what I thought. If you misuse that, it'll put a nice hole in you. And I do not think Doc D can patch you up, if you do. Listen, I can help you learn that after this mission, but right now we gotta go to the transporter room. The Gou'ld apparently use some sort of ring...thing…maybe A2 could tell you better, but I can't. Now, we don't know what is down on that Ring, but some of the officers suspect that it is a Halo. If that's the case, we need to be extra careful. So, if we're done chit-chatting, let's rock and roll!"


	4. Chapter 3: Troubles on the Ring

**Chapter 3: Troubles on the Ring**

The room began to empty out as every squadron but one began to file into the ship. Lt. Jr. Grade Justice and his squadron remained. Overall, Larry thought things were moving too fast. He had just gotten here and already he was going on an operation to scout out a new base for this clan. _If we don't do it though, _he thought, _someone else will. And where will that leave us?_

Lt. Commanders Tex and Recon, and Commander Fate led their squadrons out of the small hanger, through several corridors, down the hall, and into a much larger hanger. Tex stalked in front of her column, apparently expecting attack at any moment, despite the _Pride of Clan Hunters _being under control of CH now and not of the Gou'ld…whatever they were.

Inside the larger hanger, several shuttles similar to the one that they had left in the other room littered around, along with a few of the CH shuttles. Larry recognized the _Pillar of Discovery_, Whitestar's ship, but Whitestar was not around; so there was no telling how it got there. After leading over to next to one of the larger cargo ships that littered the floor, Tex turned around.

"Alright, we are going to go down to the surface in this cargo ship. I already know how to pilot it, so if everyone could get inside, please? We will be searching out a section of the Ring world that has a large number of instillations and facilities scattered around it. We are going to investigate every single one of them and see if we can find anything in there. Also, about two standard hours ago, Captain Assim was sent down to the surface of the Ring using the Gou'ld transport system…we have been unable to reestablish contact ever since. So, we are going to attempt to locate him."

Shooing the CH members into the transport ship like a goodwife shooing geese, she continued to move inward and through the door. The main cockpit spoke more of the gaudy taste of the Gou'ld — more gilt and hieroglyphs. Two chairs were seated at the front of the cone-like nose. There was a considerable amount of space behind the two pilots' chairs into which crowded Spacer, Larry, Biffy, Fox, and a short, pudgy 17-year-old named Dabby, who was cradling a laptop and had a small pistol in a belt at his side.

There was a second room in the back that was spacious enough to accommodate a UH-60 Blackhawk transport helicopter that Larry recognized as the one Biffy and Spacer had rescued him with. Larry opened his mouth to ask how it got there, but was caught off guard as Spacer toppled over. Dabby swore as he bent down around the laptop he had strapped to his side to check Spacer's pockets for his PDA.

"He ran out of time," Dabby said in a tight, slightly accented voice, as he pulled out Spacer's PDA.

"How long until he can re-enter?" Tex asked.

"About five hours of regular sleep at minimum," came the reply from Biffy.

"Do ya think we should continue with the scoutin' mission, Ma'am?" asked Fox.

Tex shrugged, "We all have lives. I doubt we will always be able to move around at whim with everyone we would like to. I have two hours left on my time, so I think we should proceed. See if Fate's squadron can spare anyone, will you, Harrod? And someone take Spacer outside, he'll be safer on the _Pride_ than on some nameless cargo ship."

So, Larry moved over to where the Commander with the pale-blue eyes was loading a large, tank-like vehicle onto another of the Gou'ld cargo ships. Coming to attention, just like he had seen several other CH members do, he saluted. "Sir, Lt. Commander Tex is wondering if you can spare her a man, Spacer just logged out. Too much time."

The Commander looked determinedly over his shoulder, and motioned to the men to stop pushing the tank into the Gou'ld cargo ship. "I can give you Turkey. He's a Petty Officer First Class; but, more importantly, he follows the black magic." Commander Fate's voice came out in a rasp, which reminded Larry of gravel being crunched under the tires of a large SUV. It began to bother Larry after listening to it a short time.

Commander Fate called out to the dark-haired boy who looked to be in his mid teens, and had an extremely pale face. When he glided closer to Larry, he looked remarkably older than Larry had first expected. Noticing the look of puzzlement on his face, Turkey noted, "It is because I use magic. It is both difficult to control and extremely straining on one's body…I live longer here, but the magic drains my features…hence the pale look and gauntness."

"Petty Officer First Class Turkey, despite your unfavorable name, you will accompany Lt. Commander Tex and her squad and assist them in their scouting expedition."

"What about you, Sir? Won't you need some extra firepower to watch your back?" Turkey extended his hand and a small ball of fire balanced in the air over his skin.

Commander Fate waved toward the tank that was still sitting halfway up the ramp. "I got a T-55 watching my back, thanks. Their heavy weapons man Spacer fell out. You know how he likes that grenade launcher of his. Now get going. We don't have a lot of time here! I only have one hour left on my time!"

The ship flew low over the surface of the Ring, and the area inside of the ship was very snug as Biffy and Tex sat at the pilot and co-pilot seats and Larry, Turkey, Fox, and Dabby all stood behind them. Dabby had his laptop out and was typing away, the computer screen filling up his eyes and reflecting onto the surface of a pair of reading glasses he had produced.

"You know you don't really need to have those, right?" Fox mentioned to Dabby when he brought them out.

"Yeah, I know, but I have always worn them…it would seem unnatural to not be wearing them."

So there he stood, receiving information from the _Pride of Clan Hunters_. "The area is mostly one very large valley, with one extremely large lake in the center. Also, scanners suggest some sort of structure in the middle of the lake."

As the cargo ship flew over the next rise, the ground seemed to fall out from underneath the craft and then transformed into a beautiful lake, which reflected this system's single star on the water.

"Short-range scanners are picking up several structures constructed of stone and some unknown materials both on the edges of the lake and in the center of it," Biffy reported, as he flipped a switch. "I say we check out the structure in the middle of the lake first, Ma'am. It could be our base, as it is easily defendable."

Tex nodded, "Do you detect any life forms or defenses?"

"No," Biffy and Dabby replied at the same time.

"Then we go in and check it out."

The craft lurched as she pushed the control yoke down, and Turkey, Fox, and Larry had to shift to stop from sliding forward. While Dabby managed to catch his laptop, he flew into the back of Biffy's chair, who grunted as he was pushed painfully into the dashboard. Tex grimaced.

"My bad," she said.

The structure came into view, and it reminded Larry of one very large A-frame house. It was positioned in the center of a lake, just as Biffy and Dabby had said it would be. A pair of massive doors stood behind a large patio area that included stairs up to the door. As scanners had indicated, it was completely deserted, although some birds flew around the lake. The cargo ship skidded to a halt on the large stone patio area, sending everyone lurching for handholds to keep from flying around the cockpit. Tex did not miss a beat though. She had unbuckled herself and was moving toward the door, issuing instructions.

"Larry, you're with me, up front. Dabby, get in the center and take that laptop of yours along with you. Fox and Biffy, cover our rear. Turkey, you're in the center next to Dabby. Watch all sides."

"I hardly think this is necessary," replied Dabby, skeptically. "There are no life forms reading on…"

Tex cut him off, "That's an order, Dabby!"

Dabby shut his mouth.

Larry moved to the front, next to the black-haired female, who already had the long sword that she carried out of its scabbard and pointing in front of her. Larry noted that the blade carried several lengthy runes sketched on both the hilt and blade, and that the mass of metal must be heavy to carry.

Everyone filed out of the doors in the exact order that Tex had given. They moved up the stairs which were also made of stone. As they approached the doors that provided entry into the instillation, Dabby balanced his laptop on his arm and frowned. "The doors here are made of something labeled 'Unknown' by DreamLand's network. I don't know if it's possible to…"

Larry activated his lightsaber and was surprised to see it glow in a bright purple color. He moved forward to the door and threw his gleaming blade into door, which began to part for him. As the door began to melt away, Larry forced the saber around in a circle to cut it open. Waiting for the molten substance to cool, he turned to Dabby, who scowled.

"I could have opened that, you know," he grumbled, as Tex led the way into the building.

Inside, a small entry area followed by a large hall that had large stone blocks all over the floor, and a dais awaited them. As Dabby had reported, the area was empty. The group fanned out and surrounded the room, so as to locate something of use.

"I don't think we could use this as our base," Turkey commented. "It is too small, and it has no hardware or anything we could find useful. On top of that, this structure has no natural cover, so any ship in orbit could erase us from existence."

"I agree, but let's see if we can't find anything of use around here before we go," Tex said. She gave an order to Dabby, "Communicate with the _Pride_ and inform Admiral Ben of our progress."

Dabby nodded and began typing into his laptop, "It seems that High Command has just arrived in the system. Nikita is inspecting the _Pride_ now."

Fox called out from where he was on top of the balcony that ran around the room, "Hey, ya'll better take a look-see over here."

Everyone moved up to where Fox was standing, his rifle propped up against the entrance to a hallway. Only thing was, the rifle was propped up against were the hallway was supposed to be. That is, where there should not be anything to prop a rifle up against.

Dabby knocked on the entrance, and then next to the entrance on the wall. Two different sounds resonated. "It is sealed up, by something that resembles glass, but clearly…"

Larry pulled the saber out from his belt and activated the blade. He plunged it down into the clear opening. The blade sputtered and went out, causing everyone to gawk.

"Well, ain't that somethin'," barked Fox.

"You will not get that open," a voice came from behind them. "Believe me, I've tried."

With a whoosh, everyone had their weapons out and cocked and pointed at the speaker. The man who stood there clearly caused the people there to relax as they took him in. Then, everyone began to snap to attention, but he quickly waved them to stop.

"Assim, Sir, how did you get in here?" asked Biffy. "There were no life forms detected here."

Assim grimaced, "Ah, yes, about that…"

He made a gesture with his hand, and a red laser beam appeared on his shoulder right where his heart was.

Everyone tensed again as a voice said loudly, "I'd like all of you to please put your weapons down, or else this one will die!" He cut off with homicidal laughter.

Tex ground her teeth, "I thought you said there were 'NO life forms' in here!"

"There weren't!" Dabby protested.

Tex threw down her sword, and everyone else threw down their respective weapons, except for Turkey, who had none.

"That's more like it." A man suddenly appeared behind Assim and threw him toward the others with the butt of a small sub-machine gun, then focused it on Turkey. "I recognize a black mage when I see one."

The man had long, black, greasy hair that did not seem to have been washed in some time and a long, black goatee that was oiled to a point. Under the black trench coat he wore, Larry saw two other bulges that reminded him of what Recon was wearing. Though Recon had an air of calm; this man was obviously crazy.

"Now, what exactly are you doing here?" he asked, keeping the weapon locked on Turkey.

"Exploring. Trying to locate a new base for our clan," Tex said, eyeing her sword on the ground, clearly thinking about diving for it.

"Well, you can't stay here. I'm here already and this place has been claimed for another clan. They are on their way. I've just been paid to find it."

Tex grinned, "We are already here, though, every single one of us."

The man's face went tight. "There is little I can do then, although this whole Ring will be impossible to retain by one clan alone."

"If I may ask," Capt. Assim spoke up, "what is your name?"

"Me? I am Outlaw! ...the great mercenary who always gets stuff done!"

Larry realized that Outlaw was toying with them, and he had no intention of letting them leave alive…since profit drove him. In DreamLand, if you killed a person, you could take their PDA and transfer all their funds to your own. And, he clearly had them at the disadvantage.

Larry began to become aware of his lightsaber — not just seeing it, but actually sensing it below him. He began to concentrate on it, forming a picture in his mind of the saber jumping up into his hands as he lunged for Outlaw's gun.

The saber quaked and rolled around on the ground, but Outlaw did not seem to notice. It began to inch up into the air. It took all of Larry's concentration as it suddenly activated and sliced upward. Everyone jumped backward. The gun that Outlaw was holding was severed and he reacted instantly.

Flipping backwards, his trench coat pushed up to reveal two Desert Eagles. These .50 caliber automatic pistols were only used by the most expert of shots. By the time he had finished his flip, he landed with both weapons in his hands.

"Ooohh…and a Jedi, too! Well, I'll fetch a nice prize for this!" and he opened fire.

Everyone scattered as they scooped up their weapons. Larry grasped the saber and began moving forward, deflecting the bullets. Before he could get in striking range though, Outlaw jumped over the balcony onto the main floor. Fox lined up the Springfield and triggered off a shot as Outlaw landed — which pegged him in the back, but clearly did not injure the mercenary.

"RUN! This place is wired to blow!" Assim cried, as he helped up an injured Dabby to his feet. Dabby was bleeding in the shoulder.

Larry could see Outlaw weaving amongst the pillars. Laughing, he pulled a detonator out from under his coat. Larry wasted no time, running down the room away from the direction that Outlaw was taking.

"He shot my laptop!" Dabby complained, as he was helped along by Assim.

Tex and Turkey were still running as Fox turned to join them after his last shot had merely nicked Outlaw's shoulder. The man was clearly equipped with body armor.

The group jumped inside the cargo ship that was outside of the building and quickly began to take off. Tex got the ship about 300 meters away when the whole building went up in flames, and a massive fireball raced to catch up with the fleeing ship.

Tex began screaming as the ship pitched out of control and into a steep dive. The last thing that Larry remembered was a tremendous _CRUNCH!_, then slipped into darkness.


	5. Chapter 4: When all else fails

_I do not own anything mentioned in this book, not even the characters, except for John Call. He is mine and mine alone._

* * *

Chapter 4: Pain

Larry sat straight up, grabbing at his head. The pain subsided almost instantly, like a pain long forgotten. He opened his eyes and noticed that he was sitting in his bedroom, light streaming though the curtains and catching on the dust, making it seem eerie.

He got up, pulling off the DreamLand system as he knew he would have to wait to re-enter. Pulling out the manual, he read that it would take until the system stopped shutting him out in order to actually re-enter the World of Dreams, and that was when the red light quit blinking on top of the device.

He wondered what had happened to his squad- everything had gone dark just before he had woken up here. Who was this Outlaw guy, and why did he try to kill all of them? Was everyone alive? Would the _Pride_ send help?

Quivering with anticipation, he got up and went into the bathroom, grabbed a shower, and walked into the kitchen to get something to eat. Looking more presentable, he walked onto the balcony of his apartment and began to wait for the red light to stop blinking.

He leafed through the booklet and instruction manual that had come with the DreamLand device. Reading about the Gou'ld proved to be most informative. It seemed that in order to make the synthetic world seem more realistic, John Call had programmed in a number of villainous creatures that resided in their own separate portions of the universe. Chief among the list of dangerous-bad-guys to watch out for included the Gou'ld, who, just as Biffy explained, were parasites. Another was the Covenant from Halo, which implied that the rings that CH landed on were indeed a Halo. Then there were the Borg who cared for nothing except for assimilation or destruction, who flew around in a network, (they all thought the exact same thing at the exact same time). Most dangerous, it seemed, was the existence of the Yuuzhan Vong, which lived out beyond the galaxy that represented George Lucas' Star War's region.

Looking up, he noticed that the blinking had stopped, and he quickly hurried to reattach the properprobes to his body. Making sure that the back door was unlocked and that the front door was locked, he eagerly sat down on the lawn chair with the wind rustling in his hair and prepared to sleep.

The World of Dreams device whirled as he slipped into unconscious.


	6. Chapter 5: Good News Bad News

**Chapter 5: Good News/Bad News**

Larry sat up from his unruly sprawled position on the ground. His black jacket and old World War II clothing appeared to be torn in several places and was very muddy. He was surprised that the Gou'ld transport ship had managed to break the edge of the lake. Standing up, he discovered — to his relief — that both his PDA and his lightsaber were sitting in his pockets.

Larry frowned at the lightsaber, remembering what had occurred behind the dais in the building on the lake. He had made the lightsaber hover, and that was impossible. Furthermore, he had called it to him and attacked that mercenary with it. He did not know how he did it, just that it seemed the right thing to do.

Looking around, Larry saw that the ship was still intact, except the entire stern section was missing. The UH-60 Blackhawk remained in place tied down in the back of the ship, although a section of the tail was sticking out of the hole. Tex and Biffy were still strapped into the chairs at the front of the craft, while Dabby, Assim, Turkey, and Fox were thrown into the foliage around him.

He ran over to Dabby, who had been injured in the fighting, and saw that the bullet wound was the least of his worries. Dabby was unconsciousness and had many lacerations that split his face and was bleeding badly from them. Still, he was breathing. Assim was sitting against the wall of the cargo ship, as though he had tried to rise, but could not, and slumped against the wall. Checking all of them, Larry saw that they were each injured. But none as bad as Dabby, who need serious help.

"You appear unharmed, Harrod, you should feel lucky," said a warm, friendly voice from the edge of the clearing that had been made by the cargo ship as it landed. "I must say, I did not believe that fighting between clans would break out on the Halos so quickly."

Whirling, with his lightsaber raised and activated, Larry spun to face a man standing in a blue jumpsuit, with no weapon in evidence. He had blonde hair and an angular face that seemed to be either smiling or grimacing depending on how one would look at it. Larry recognized him immediately. It was John Call, the creator of DreamLand.

John smiled, "That's not necessary, I have no wish to attack the first _Ta'veran_ to enter DreamLand…and a Force-sensitive one at that!"

Larry frowned, staring at the multi-billionaire, "_Ta'veran?_"

"Of course, you would not know. This is your first or second trek into DreamLand, right? A _Ta'veran_ is someone who was randomly selected by the programming of the DreamLand computer to twist fate and luck inside here. You also appear to be Force-sensitive, which is another rarity. That will make you a formidable foe and warrior, as well as a great negotiator between clans, should you choose a more peaceful path. You have discovered a lightsaber by trading with Fox," John Call nudged the Southern boy in the ribs with a boot. "You see, the odds work in your favor, in that you were able to come in touch with that."

"What does this mean for me?" Larry asked.

"It means that you are both lucky and have the ability to become a key player here in DreamLand. I have an offer to make for you. Few are left that can train Force-sensitive people. I can help train you — make you stronger. You can become my subordinate. What do you say?"

Larry thought for a moment, "What are the benefits?"

"You get administrative powers and the ability to police and investigate conflicts between people in the World of Dreams, and you get an increased amount of authority. Do not concern yourself with petty things like finding a base or capturing another clan's flag! You were destined to do more, though I intend to make this offer to every _Ta'veran _that enters the World of Dreams. If you turn me down, I understand. I would myself, just to have fun while I could."

Larry pondered it for a short time more. Then said, "My being _Ta'veran_ affects chance and fate? Like in this crash here, I survived unscathed, when I should have died?"

John Call nodded, "Another example is how you — being a Force-sensitive person — managed to find the traditional weapon of Force users so quickly. You were not in DreamLand for more than one or two hours and you found your first lightsaber."

Larry nodded and leaned over Dabby, putting his hands over the bullet wound in his shoulder, trying to stop the bleeding, "I think I'll stay where I am, thank you. I think if I were to abandon them here they would die."

John smiled, "You are taking a path that reflects loyalty. A pity you did not choose to come with me. Very well, though I can help you before I must go."

Bending over the bloody body of Dabby, John pressed his hands onto the various wounds. When he pulled away, nothing except unbroken skin showed.

Then John turned to Larry, saying, "There are two things I must tell you. First, If you wish to learn the ways of the Force, go to the Jedi Academy on Yavin 4 for a short time. You will learn faster than any student within DreamLand. Also, files concerning knowledge on how to do certain things can be downloaded directly into your mind."

"The other thing I have is to say is for your clan: The Halos are real. They can destroy the entirety of DreamLand and you must not let that happen. I would recommend going through the Library section of the Halo, where all of the information left by the Forerunner is stored.

"Then, there is the Index. It is what will activate the Ring and will destroy all life in this and any other close galaxy. Some might escape that kind of devastation, but I doubt it. Good Luck."

Larry watched as John Call turned and, somehow, the foliage turned with him, until he simply vanished.

Turkey coughed, and Dabby began to stir. Tex and Biffy were beginning to un-strap themselves from their chairs.

"Everyone alright?" Tex asked.

"No…" groaned Fox from the floor.

"You're not dead. Are you?" asked Assim, as he rose from the wall.

"No…" groaned Fox again.

"Well, then you are fine. Now get up."

Turkey scanned the room. Then a ball of flame hovered over his palm, illuminating the dimly-lit area inside of the wrecked cargo ship.

"Lot of help you were," muttered Fox to the black mage. "What kind of name is 'Turkey' anyway?"

The black mage ignored him, then froze as he saw all of Dabby's blood covering the back of the hole. He crossed his eyes over to Larry in a glare as he saw no wound on the now moaning Dabby.

"I'll explain later," Larry said, as the mage's gaze fell on the uninjured CH member.

Tex got up and strode across to the Blackhawk, which was still strapped down. "Will this still fly?" she asked Biffy.

The young boy quickly scrambled into the cockpit of the large transport helicopter and began flipping switches. "It'll fly, and the radio still works. We should call in to the _Pride_ and let them know of our situation. They need to know about this other clan that is on its way here."

Tex nodded, "Do it."

The boy flipped a switch and a speaker blared out a massive explosion of static and voices, as it washed out over the battered group of CH members.

"Taking heavy fire…."

"They just came up behind. Cut… from… reinforcements!"

"…Multiple contacts! They are NOT human. Repeat…."

Then a very loud voice overrode every single one of them. A very loud, female voice with ultimate command: "To all CH members, here are your orders. Report to these coordinates, if possible. 58' up-spin by 34' planet bound. The structure is in the middle of the Ring's major ocean. Repeat. All CH members…"

Tex reached over and flipped off the radio, as the rest of the order dissolved into static and panicked screams.

"Turkey, can you get this helicopter out of here? If it still flies, then we need to leave immediately. We need to rendezvous with the rest of the clan as soon as possible. I do not know what is going on out there, but it seems we have an increased amount of problems that need our immediate attention."

"Just hold on there, sister," said Capt. Assim from the corner he was leaning on. "What about Mr. 'Hi-I'm-a-Jedi' over here?"

It was then that absolute realization dawned on the faces of those who surrounded him. Out from under their brows and their soot blackened and weary faces, came looks of fascination and wonder.

"Well, I don't reckon that ya knew that ya were able to use the Force, or else ya'd have said so," Fox drawled, as he began wiping mud and grit off of the Springfield with the front of his shirt. "Though I must say, you are looking mighty fine, considering the rest of us are bruised and stuff."

"Ma'am, Sir. If I could, I would like to explain my actions and what I have just discovered while en-route to the rendezvous point. I would not like to remain here. This whole place is not hospitable to strangers."

The group agreed and quickly got the helicopter up and off of the ground, scavenging whatever control crystals and other equipment they could afford to carry. Once they were in the air Larry explained exactly what had occurred. He told how his mind had come out to grasp the lightsaber to sever Outlaw's weapon. He revealed what had just occurred between him and the creator of DreamLand, John Call. He explained that he was both Force-sensitive and a _Ta'veran. _While at first they had shown him blank looks, they brightened with this news.

Assim glared, "And that is the truth, huh? Well, I don't know you, but I suspect that there is something you are hiding. You sure you told us everything?"

"I would not lie, Sir. It's my first time in DreamLand."

"We'll see about that."

Assim stalked over to where Biffy was sitting in the pilot's seat and glared at the altimeter.

Turkey leaned over and whispered, "Don't worry about him, he's just frustrated that he got captured by that Outlaw character so easily."

Larry grinned and leaned back as the UH-60 Blackhawk continued to toward the rendezvous point.

* * *

John Call stepped out from the foliage that was on Installation 05 directly into his office.

_Very odd, that one,_ thought the multi-billionaire. _I offered him a job and he chose to save the profiles of those men he served with._

_He does not matter. Though he may be Ta'veran, he is still a player in the system. But a Ta'veran and a Jedi…_

John stepped over to where his desk was in DreamLand. He would need to meditate on this for some time. But he would continue to watch every single movement of this so-called "Harrod the Barbarian." And, if the Clan Hunters did not at least secure their choice for base with a _Ta'veran_ with them, then they would deserve what came to them.


	7. Chapter 6: A Base for CH

**Chapter 6: A Base for CH**

Nikita leaned back in the chair that had just been brought into the base. She, James, and Bobby made up the High Command of the Clan Hunters— though she was personally worried about whether or not there would be a clan left to be High Command of, if the situation did not improve soon.

"Alright," she said. "What do we know then?"

Across the table from where the three High Command members sat, a Vice Admiral, who called himself Cano, was standing with a hologram of the Ring floating over a small console. Cano was of Asian complexion and wore glasses as he peered down into his notes. His voice rarely wavered. "We know that approximately one standard hour ago, another force entered the Ring area. Not by space, though, or the _Pride_ would have picked up the scopes. That means that they have discovered the address for the Stargate system that Mr. Call installed in DreamLand."

Nikita would have given a pretty penny to find out how these guys — whoever they were — had come up with that. The Stargates were extremely convenient at moving supplies and forces around the galaxies, if you knew how to operate them.

Before she had come here after receiving Ben's message, she had seen a Stargate on John Call's representation of Earth. It looked exactly like the Halo that CH's base was now sitting on, except that it spun around and had some weird looking symbols on it. Supposedly, if you dialed the symbols in the right sequence, it would create a wormhole between two of the gates. This wormhole allowed anyone or anything who traveled through it to travel light-years instantly.

And someone had found a way to get to their new discovery.

"Who are they?" asked Bobby, head of CH's Intelligence Division.

"I do not know, exactly, but they do have a name. They call themselves SeeD. Apparently, according to the reference books, they are a mercenary organization known as the elite of any other breed of soldier on their home planet. They have used some space travel and will take contracts for just about anyone."

"So, who hired them?" James asked.

"I imagine we should ask them."

"You're one hell of an Intelligence Chief, you know that?" said James, lighting a cigar.

"I wish you wouldn't smoke that. Makes me feel disgusted in real life, much less in DreamLand," said Nikita from her chair.

"Thank you, Rear Admiral Cano, you are dismissed. Commander Ginge, how is our weapons supply right now?"

A tall, ginger-haired man with a British accent stepped forward. "Well, Ma'am, it seems that we have a large amount of personal weaponry, ranging from lightsabers to shotguns to blasters, but nothing that really will give us a definite edge over these SeeDs …except for the _Pride_ and the other top cover we have from the shuttles and cargo ships.

"As soon as this is resolved, we will be able to appropriate funds to gain heavier weapons; but, for now, all we can do is wait."

Suddenly, Captain Whitestar came running into the conference room. "Sirs. Ma'am. A UH-60 Blackhawk is inbound. They are requesting permission to land using Captain Assim's clearance code. Problem is, they are bringing vital intelligence with them as well. The pilot, one Petty Officer Second Class Biffy, is about to be ejected from the system. He's almost up on his five hours."

Everyone was immediately on their feet. They quickly ran out to the newly-installed Clan Hanger to await the landing of the UH-60 Blackhawk.

"I can't stay in any longer!" Biffy shouted, as his PDA screen showed a downward running number from ten seconds.

"You'd better land us, Biffy! Or else I'll demote you back down to Crewman!" shouted Assim.

"Fat lot of good that'll do us, if we're all dead!" Turkey shouted at the Captain.

Below them waves churned, as the island that sat on the coordinates came ever closer in the window. Larry did not want to think about what would happen if the thing hit the cliffs. Pain here appeared to be real, which explained why Biffy and the other injured members in the compartment were moving so stiffly after their crash landing.

Larry began to take deep breaths. He could feel the anger and fear that was rampant in the cabin. He began to reach with his mind into the area around him. Sound and time seemed to slow and fade to nothing. He could feel the chopper shudder with each pass of the rotor overhead. He could feel the waves and the wind below him. Now, he _became_ the chopper, the wind, and the waves. He was in everyone in the cabin; they were in him. He could feel their anxiousness and trepidation and desire to leave. He reassured their minds and they each relaxed.

Larry inhaled deeply and all semblance of his trance left him. What had he just done? Had he just reached out through the Force? Or, was this something about being _Ta'veren? _

"Five seconds!" Biffy shouted.

As the ground was coming up to meet him, Larry grabbed at a handhold to steady himself against the impact. The UH-60 hit once, bounced hard, and rested, its rotor spinning wildly.

Biffy had landed on top of the island in a concrete section that appeared to be unused as of yet, though a large crowd of people filed out of the ground surrounding the helicopter with guns drawn. With her arms waving in the air, Tex was the first person out of the helicopter.

"It's alright," a voice came from within the mob of armed men and women, "it's Lt. Commander Tex."

The guns dropped and they began filing out of the helicopter. Larry was helping Turkey carry down the still injured Dabby. Assim and Fox were carrying the unconscious Biffy down from the cockpit.

"It's good to see you," a concerned, sleek-looking man said as he seemed to simply appear next to Tex. "I was worried."

Tex smiled up at him, but then punched his shoulder, "Where were you, Fury? I wanted to go out with you, but instead I found a wiseass Captain and discovered just how bad a shot Fox is!"

"Hey! I resent that!" Fox said, straightening.

"Who you callin' a 'wiseass'?" Assim scowled.

"Enough!" a thin, white man with a furrowed brow said with a loud voice. "We did not rush out of here to hear a shouting match! You have information the Clan can use?"

Everyone who had been in the slightly battered Blackhawk turned to Larry, who snapped to attention. He had just noticed the rank insignias on the shoulders and collars of all those present: a lot of admirals and one that had a large insignia on the collar which appeared to be a ribbon twisted into the shape of a "CH" with flowing cursive letters. Also, those three must be the High Command members.

"This is Crewman Harrod the Barbarian," Tex introduced.

"Who coincidentally happens to be a Force- sensitive person," Capt. Assim said, frowning slightly at the lightsaber dangling at Larry's belt. His comment drew a gasp from all of those standing around.

"Well, I see that we should get inside the base to take care of this debriefing," said the tall, blonde woman with the "CH" insignia of the High Command on the collar of her black jacket. "We do not want to give away the location of the base of operations."

Inside of the briefing room, Assim reported of scouting the Ring and being captured by the freelancer "Outlaw." He also told of the crash. Afterwards, Larry stood at ease as he explained his very basic control of the Force, his being _Ta'veren_ and, of course, John Call's warnings.

"So, we know this much," said Bobby, one of the High Command members — the woman, Nikita, stood beside him, with an impatient-looking guy named James on her other side — "we have mercenaries pouring through the Stargate, a clan that knows this location and is coming this way, and a final warning to get the Index. This means, some clan hired mercenaries to come through the Stargate to pave the way for an invasion of the Ring so they can use it as their own base."

"You mean to say that we are just going to take the word of a _Crewman!_" shrieked James. "For all we know about him, he could be a spy!"

"I hardly make friends with those who would try to kill me," Larry said coldly.

"I reckon that if he was a spy, then he'd a' tried to kill us when we were all conked off out cold," drawled Fox.

James scowled, "Yes. Thank you, Petty Officer Fox."

A large, placid looking man scowled at the High Command. He had the rank of an Admiral and had several medals strapped to his chest, "I think that we should believe him. We need to secure this Index."

"My thoughts, exactly, Ben. I see something much more sinister here. Look at the facts: First, we have a single freelancer with an ego. This means he likes to work alone or rarely in a small group. Now look at the group. It's an organization called SeeD who works together like an army. I think these two attacks are completely unrelated. Now, we know that Outlaw works for another clan, so who do these guys work for?" Nikita pondered, trailing off.

Larry had an idea. "Maybe John Call gave me the hint about the Index because these SeeDs have been hired to go through the Library and activate this Halo."

Everyone stopped. "Well," agreed Bobby. "That could be it."

"Why would anyone try to destroy themselves?" James asked.

"John said some people are opposed to the entire DreamLand system, and would be willing to wipe everyone out just to shut down the system," Larry pointed out. "I am sure these SeeDs don't know that they are about to kill their own programming."

An Asian, wearing the pins of a Rear Admiral came up, along with a large man who was wearing a pair of glasses, and was tapping the keyboard on the laptop in his hands. The Asian Admiral said, "It seems that Alpha Two, here, just intercepted transmissions between SeeD forces…"

"Yes," said Alpha Two, cutting off the Admiral. "It seems that the _Pride_ intercepted a transmission in which a group of SeeDs claim that they have located the entrance to the Library, where you said John Call said the Index was."

A murmur ran through the crowd of officers and enlisted men as voices began to speak up on both sides of the High Command bench.

"They're going to destroy DreamLand!"

"We should try to stop them, I don't…"

"What do you think, Fury…?"

"I just spent _a lot _of money on this thing; I am not going to see it turned into a useless piece of slag!"

"HEY!" shouted James. "It seems that our contact is right, the Library has been found." He turned to where the Asian Admiral was standing, "Cano, can you and your branch locate the Library?"

Admiral Cano opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by Alpha Two's quick response, "Sure. I have the entrance to the underground system right here. Though I would hurry if I were you, the _Pride _just intercepted another message stating that reinforcements were en-route."

"Well, now we know what to do with the other recon squadrons," Bobby said, looking slightly pale."

Alright! How much time do each of you have?" Nikita shouted. "If you have more than one and a half hours left on your max time in DreamLand, you can go. If not, you must remain here."

A rustle sounded as everyone began to produce their PDAs. To Larry's immense relief, he saw he had two and a half hours left. Several of the CH members present began to moan loudly.

"You shouldn't be so bummed," said an Admiral who had a beard and broad shoulders. "SeeDs are incredibly dangerous. I arrived near Galbadia Garden on their home world. They managed to rescue me from a swarm of monsters before questioning me quite roughly."

"Well then, Ownage, since you have experience with these SeeDs, you will lead the expedition to recover the Index. You and our little Jedi will be going along."

A Lt. Commander rushed forward to where Capt. Assim was. He had ginger-colored hair and spoke with a crisp British accent, "I'm sorry to hear about your last mini-gun. Seems that freelancer took it off you, eh? Not to worry, friend. I managed to scrounge another one up from the CH stockpiles…"

Assim lightened considerably as he hefted the multi-barreled weapon. He began checking the weapon thoroughly, giving the barrels a test spin and what not.

Fox was about to say something to Larry, when he toppled over, unconscious.

"Someone get him to…" Tex began before she, too, toppled over, her head hitting the ground of the briefing room.

James looked over from where the three High Command members were conferring to scowl at the two downed members before the three broke and began issuing orders.

"You! Get some extra ammunition…"

"You ten, you will be staying here for defense of our base…"

"Here's the deal, we will be rerouting the remaining forces that engaged SeeD just out of the Stargate. That means that Lt. Commander Recon, Lt. Commander Fate and his armor group, and what is left of Lt. Jr. Grade Justice's squad will meet you near the Library and provide back up," Nikita explained, as people began pulling PDAs out and imputing names of the different squads for instant communication. There was a feature that allowed for instant messaging as well as limited vocal messages.

"Seems you are down a sniper," a very straight voice came from behind Larry. "Mind if I join?"

Turning, Larry noticed that the man who spoke had a leather jacket on and a headband over his forehead that read "Rouge." In his hands, he carried a black rifle with a scope on the top. Larry recognized it as a SR-25 rifle, which was a more current rifle and easily used when moving around and breaking down.

"It would seem we do not have much choice…Rouge?" the last part of Turkey's statement was a question, as his eye fell on the headband.

"That's right," Rouge said coolly.

"Enough chit-chatting," Assim said, flipping a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. "It seems you have been promoted to Petty Officer First Class. Though for what, I can't say."

"It is because he saved all of you from Outlaw," responded the bold, thunderous voice of the Admiral leading the attack, Ownage.

"How many do we have going with us, Sir?" Assim asked of the bigger man.

"Roughly twenty, at present, though whatever is left of Justice's, Fate's, and Recon's squadrons will join us shortly at the rendezvous point. Appears that they just managed to report in to the _Pride."_

A taller man who shared a striking resemblance to John Call came over to where everyone was standing. He had a long, thin blade over his back that appeared to have some trigger worked into it somehow…

"I'm coming too," said the man. He wore a tan pair of shorts and a long shirt of an identical tan color.

Ownage frowned and muttered something under his breath about uniforms, "Very well, Allied. Just get into the hanger." He turned and left. The young man followed, fingering the hilt of the very odd sword that was over his shoulder.

"Everyone!" Nikita shouted. "This is our first test as a Clan, and as people in DreamLand. Do not waste it, or else everything we have done to this point is worthless, and a waste of money at that. The SeeDs must not be allowed to get the Index! Good Luck! And may the Force be with you!" she said, peering with a smile on her lips at Larry.

Larry felt that he was going to get a lot of that in the coming days…


	8. Chapter 7: Heartless

Chapter 7: Heartless 

Larry stepped out onto a platform near the entrance to an underground tunnel. The whole area appeared to be in a forest mostly made up of pine and other trees Larry did not recognize. _Must be indigenous to the Halos, _Larry thought.

He was at the head of a formation of about twenty men and women, all of them carrying an odd mismatch of weaponry and wearing an odd assortment of clothing. Many wore jeans and random tee shirts as though this is what they wore when hanging around the house on their day off. _Talk about 'weekend warriors,' huh?_

Larry was happy to see Spacer again. Spacer was happy to see Larry hadn't gotten cut up by shrapnel, but was sad that he had missed the action.

"You know I would have just blown him into bitty pieces," he had said while they had loaded into the back of another Gou'ld cargo ship and taken off for the Library.

Allied -- the peculiar, tall man -- was another interesting case. Apparently, in addition to the odd sword on his back, he also had a number of medium-sized bladed disks inside of specially-made holsters. When Larry and several others had asked about them, he had said, "Wait and see," with a crooked smile on his face. He was questioned so often, Assim seemed on the verge of making it an order, but relented.

The group began to start off again, as a UH-60 Blackhawk piloted by a Master Chief named Hero flew overhead. Two Crewmen inside the helicopter manned the two mini-guns on either side. Assim was comparing sizes between those guns and the one he carried. Oddly, he seemed quite willing to pick up another weapon to add to his collection, but the Admiral in charge -– Ownage -- had given the weapon to another person.

Ownage looked up at the helicopter and frowned. Then he pulled a half-moon ax from his belt and began moving toward the entrance. With his cloak and his beard, Larry was reminded of another character he had known out of a book. He wondered if John Call had included him in DreamLand as well…

With the people who used blades and swords creating the forefront of the box, the flanks just behind them were CH members who used guns. Behind them were the people who -- like Spacer -- had too much fire power to be used at close range. Turkey was here as well, ready to cast magic.

One surprise had been the addition of a White Mage by the name of "Doc D" who decided to come along. No one knew what the "D" stood for, and the Doc wasn't telling. Ready to help heal anyone who would need it, he carried med kits and other supplies with him.

The air was thick with excited anticipation. Except for Ownage and those who had taken his warning about SeeDs seriously, many thought, _These are computers whose programs cannot be that difficult to dismantle. Could they? _They knew Fury had single-handedly captured the _Pride of Clan Hunters_ and destroyed the Jaffa and Gou'ld army inside of it by himself.

As they entered the underground tunnel, Larry noticed something on the ground, illuminated by his lightsaber and the flashlights of those who brought them. Bodies. Two of them. Dressed in blue…and lying with their faces in the ground.

Ownage looked generally startled, "They're wearing the typical SeeD uniform, but I wasn't expecting to find them already _dead_."

Spacer muttered something in Dutch behind them. It sounded like a curse against evil, or perhaps a blessing for the dead. Everyone had their weapons drawn now, as the mood went from confident to somewhat sad. This puzzled Larry, _Why that? When, just a few minutes ago, they were so confident that the abilities of the SeeDs were overestimated._

"Maybe they just tripped over their shoelaces," Assim waved his gun in a dismissive fashion, the barrels spinning slightly.

As Ownage rolled the bodies over, someone gasped loudly as the faces of both bloody and gashed. The smell that came from the bodies made the contents in Larry's stomach -- which were reflections of reality -- churn uncomfortably.

They continued onward. The way to the Library continued to get darker and darker the deeper they went. Soon though, the ramp leveled out and a large door stood in front of them. The door was so large it extended all the way into the ceiling of the room and spread the width of the walls. There was no way around it.

Alpha Two came forward with a laptop, reminding Larry strongly of Dabby before he got shot by Outlaw. Alpha Two noticed a funky-looking pad with spinning circles and holographic projections by the side of the door.

"I think this is the Forerunner version of a touch-screen," he said, tapping the long and rectangular screen in several spots randomly while trying to find the effect. His fingers began to fly across the keyboard. The clicking made an eerie sound as it reverberated around the walls.

"I don't like this, man," Spacer groaned.

"Stow it," Whitestar said.

A sound began to reverberate around the room that was not the eerie clacking of Alpha Two's keyboard. He stopped and looked over his glasses at the walls. A scratching sound could be heard. Every gun and eye swiveled over to where it was coming from.

"Get that door open," Ownage growled from the back of his throat to a now pale-looking Alpha Two. "We must get the Index."

Alpha Two chewed his lip nervously as the sound disappeared. He tapped several holographs in a certain order. "It's been sealed from the other side, Sir."

Ownage furrowed his brow. "You, Jedi, get up here. Cut through that door!"

"Actually, Sir, if he just damages the door in the middle, it should slide open. Some fail safe system or something…"

"FINE! Just do it!"

The scratching sound began again on the opposite side of the room. This time louder and more desperate sounding.

"Some of us don't have all day!"

Larry moved forward, igniting the purple blade to slice into about the center of the door, but he did not put the blade where he intended. Rather, he felt as though something else had just guided his strike…

With a_ hiss_ the door slid open, and Larry jumped back as something lunged at him. His blade came in a swift uppercut and he felt a body fly into two pieces. Looking into the room beyond, Larry saw a huge hallway, easily miles long. Looking down at what he had cut, he noticed it was actually human, or was. It was wearing an outfit similar to the two dead SeeDs back by the entrance.

Allied walked over to the body with Ownage and said, "He's a SeeD candidate. This was probably his exam…"

"Well, he just failed!" growled Ownage. "And, we have a long way to walk, so let's get moving!"

"I know, but only one of them…"

The group began walking forward, as though expecting an attack, but not walking at a crouch. Guns and eyes and swords all moved backward and forward, as the scratching sound followed them through the door and along the passage way. Larry figured the hallway was so large they could fly several of those shuttles that CH had through it.

"This is becoming a problem!" Rouge shouted to everyone around him.

"If we don't find out what those are," shouted a Crewman named Epic, "I'll start shooting the walls!"

"I'll admit," shouted Larry, "I have a bad feeling about this!"

Ownage rolled his eyes, "_Now _he tells us!"

Turkey began jogging from behind pushing on everyone in front of him. This caused everyone to panic, and everyone began jogging. Larry could feel the panic welling up in his comrades, heightened by the ticking clock he could practically feel on his PDA before DreamLand would forcibly kick him out of the World of Dreams. Larry suddenly felt a jolt through his system -- a sense of utmost danger hidden before by the panic and fear he felt in everyone around him.

"STOP!" he cried, a moment too late. A massive door similar to the one they just came through began to slide shut behind them. It was slow. Larry lunged toward it. A sharp electric jolt went through him as he dove at the threshold. He heard his own scream and the screams of several others as they all were electrocuted by a force field. Getting up, he desperately tried to stab the lightsaber through the field, only resulting in a shock strong enough to force him to drop the saber.

"Over there!" Ownage shouted, as a door on the other side of the hallway began to slide shut. Everyone sprinted the distance to where the door was closing, but bounced off the force field formed there.

"Everyone, just stop!" came a command from the group's doctor and White Mage, Doc D. "We need to think clearly!" Some of the people who had lunged at the door were now groaning around on the floor. He bent over to check them.

The scratching suddenly stopped.

In the unnatural silence that followed, Ownage ordered everyone to form a box around the wounded and Whitestar ordered Alpha Two to try and get the door open. Larry and Allied went over to where Alpha Two was working on his laptop by the door that impeded their forward progress. Muttering to himself, he seemed extremely agitated and was gnawing furiously on his bottom lip.

"Nothing's working!" he moaned.

Larry was about to reply with confidence, when he felt an itch between his shoulder blades -- a sense of danger he knew was not wrong. Spinning, he saw a pair of bright orange eyes staring at him from a corner between the door and the far wall. One pair quickly became two, and then four, and eight…sixteen…thirty two! The number of eyes staring at him was now too large to count. They slithered toward Larry. Rouge shouted the alarm. Larry saw a bullet streak in-between a set of orange eyes. The pair of eyes quickly faded to black.

Igniting his lightsaber, Larry stood between the things and the now-hysterical technician. Allied made a quick flourish with his hands and a disk flew into the darkness. The screech that followed told of his accuracy.

As they came into the light, Larry saw why they were so hard to see. They were constructed of darkness and shadow. Gunfire erupted into the swarms and fireballs leapt from the hands of Turkey to slow down the assault. There were just too many. Larry moved forward and attempted to slice through some of them, but this was difficult as they were just about as tall as his knees. Allied began swinging his mechanical blade one handed, hacking through them. The truly spooky part was that he met no resistance while cutting through them, almost as though he was fighting a shadow. But, they did die when they were cut, and Larry began to feel several of them cutting at his legs and thighs, so they were real.

The gunfire began to be more sporadic as the black creatures entered the ranks of the actual CH members. Ownage was swinging his ax, and Epic, Rouge, and several others were pulling out sidearms to empty clips into the ground. Spacer howled as a bullet went into his foot.

"Watch where you're shooting!" he snarled, as he stabbed at another thing with his knife, the grenade launcher being unpractical.

Just when it seemed like there was no end of the damned things, the door that had stopped them in the first place blew open, leaving a gaping hole where there had been a door. Alpha Two took cover behind his laptop as large pieces of stone flew over his head. Everyone swiveled to where light began streaming through the hole.

A large tank drove through the entrance, the same one Larry had seen on the _Pride_: an old Russian T-55. On top of the turret, a machine gunner swiveled and began opening up into the horde of black things away from the CH members.

At the sight of the tank, most of the black things simply dissolved and disappeared. They did not run; they just left. Completely disappeared. _How unnerving_…

The tank shuddered to a halt and then began reversing out of the entrance it had made for itself. Ownage motioned toward the door. Amidst the sound of rifles and pistols reloading, wide-eyed Crewmen stared in every direction, expecting those little nightmares to return.

"Lt. Commander Fate, good to see you!" Whitestar said happily to the blonde haired, blue eyed man getting out of the tank.

"I see you've met the Heartless," Fate said, without a hint of humor in his voice.

Larry came forward, "Heartless?"

The man frowned at Larry, as thought trying to place him, "Yes, Heartless. I would have preferred the Flood myself, but these nasty buggers are from Kingdom Hearts. I'm not really sure what they are, but according to Wikipedia they are creatures that have no soul and have lost their heart to some darkness. They are the embodiment of all the bad emotions inside of a person's soul."

Allied raised an eyebrow, "That sounds…fascinating. What do you know about SeeDs being here? I would guess they did not know about the Heartless either, as three of them are dead back there."

Fate nodded and addressed the Admiral, who had begun tapping his foot impatiently. "Recon has been pinned down in between the SeeD forces and the Index. We need to make haste to help him. Nikita sent orders to me to hook up with you, so we need to get to him quickly." His eyes, which were usually calm, shone with a hint of urgency that spoke louder than the words he was saying.

Ownage looked ahead down the tunnel, where another tank sat waiting…an A-1 Abram. The tunnel sloped upward and exited into sunlight.

"Doc! How many people are injured?" Whitestar shouted back into the room where people were still filing out.

"Lots of scratches," the Doc said brushing his hands off. "And one bullet wound to the foot. Nothing a little Cure and Potion and some med kits couldn't fix."

Fate gave orders to his men -- what was left of them -- and they began to load onto each tank to move faster. The two tanks were now bristling with guns, swords, and humans all over them.

"This is going to do murder to the gas mileage," Assim noted, scanning around with his mini-gun.

"We don't have that far to go, Sir," shouted the gunner on the T-55. "But, you should hunker down, it will get rough!"

"Rougher than Heartless?" shouted Rouge from where he was sitting.

"Let's call the Heartless you encountered there a short sprint. This is going to be a freakin' marathon!"


	9. Chapter 8: SeeD

_Now did you read the news today  
They say the dangers gone away  
But I can see the fires still alight  
There burning into the night._

**Chapter 8: SeeD**

The forces of Clan Hunters rolled up on their two tanks into the sunlight. They were still amazed they were able to come out of the dark hell they had just been in. The hole they just came out of was surrounded by sheer cliff walls on both sides, explaining why the SeeD had come through the tunnel in the first place. Explosions could be heard as they echoed off the walls of the canyon, but the CH members continued on.

"What's causing the noise?" Larry raised his voice over the rumble of the engine.

"The SeeDs!" the gunner on top of the tank, Vulch, shouted with a Scottish accent. "They are poundin' away at our bloody clanmates! Just waitin' to smash us to bloody pieces!"

Larry frowned, "Well, you're a happy one."

Vulch frowned also, nervously checking the ammunition belt to his machine gun.

Allied leaned forward and yelled loudly: "The SeeDs are not the problem, it is _what_ the SeeDs fight with that is the problem."

"What do you mean?" Larry and Spacer shouted at the same time.

Ownage responded loudly from the lead, "SeeDs use Guardian Forces, which are powerful beings that are junctioned into their minds. The GFs give them power to use magic and also increase their endurance and strength. What is most devastating, however, is the presence of these GFs themselves. They use various elements and major attacks."

Larry scratched his head, "That made no sense!"

Ownage and Allied both shrugged, "You'll just have to see for yourself then."

The tanks rumbled on through some pine trees and came to a halt. Fate jumped out shouting, "Everyone off! We need to separate and spread out!"

The Clan members began to clamber off, checking various weapons. Allied gave his sword an experimental swing. Oddly, he pulled back on the ridge of the blade as though cocking a gun, and even more oddly, Larry saw a bullet slide into a chamber.

Another explosion went off overhead, splintering the top of a pine tree, which rained down on the Clan members. Shielding his eyes, Larry reached for his lightsaber.

"Clan Hunters! Do not separate! Stay together and don't engage the SeeDs one on one. They are too powerful to take on alone!"

Pulling his wicked half-moon ax from his belt, Ownage motioned the entire group forward into the forest and over a small rise. Before him were the remnants of Recon's small group, who were holed up inside a doorway of another sheer rock face which sealed off the last end of the valley, making it a complete box.

The door was blackened by numerous carbon scorings. Intense fire was streaking from the door into the ranks of blue-coated SeeDs facing it. They numbered about fifty strong and were using every kind of weapon imaginable. Larry saw a few swords that looked like the one Allied was using, a few rifles, and some other weapons he couldn't even begin to name.

An alarm went through the ranks of SeeDs as they noticed the tanks and clan members approaching on their rear for the first time. Little more then half of the men and women in the blue uniform turned to face the oncoming threat. Larry jumped as the M-1 Abram and the T-55 tanks fired loudly exploding into the ranks of the SeeDs.

Larry blinked. As the smoke cleared, he saw that only one SeeD was still on the ground, and he was rolling around in pain. Someone stooped over him and broke something over the man's chest. His screams cut off, and he rose to his feet looking stunned and wincing a little bit. A hush ran through the Clan Hunters as they realized that something must have halted the brute force of those large shells.

Gunfire opened up as the Clan Hunter members came within range. Rouge was firing so fast, there was an almost continuous stream of brass casings emptying out of his SR-25. Several SeeDs winced and fell backwards, while some of the stronger ones simply shrugged off the molten lead hitting them. Epic and a few others reloaded, while several others tried to pick off the SeeDs who had already hit the ground from tank shells or bullets.

The SeeDs were incredibly nonchalant about the whole affair, as though all they were dealing with was an annoying nuisance. Not an _army_.

SeeDs who held weapons quickly returned fire so devastating that some of the gun-toting members of CH took cover. Larry activated his lightsaber, easily deflecting two well-aimed-at-him bursts of fire. He looked at the blade, puzzled. _How did I do that?_ he wondered to himself. Letting his mind drift, he let go of all emotion. Fading into a void of feeling and thought, all he knew was what his subconscious urged him.

He bounced up on top of a low ridge that people were ducking behind, waving the purple blade, deflecting shots that would have given greater problems to the clan's snipers and other gunmen.

Vaguely, he became aware that more gunfire was being directed at himself, as though he was attracting many flies. He brushed the bullets. A cheer went up along the Clan Hunter's line as the SeeDs became increasingly frustrated. Many SeeDs began to charge the line the twenty-odd clan members had made, but tank shells forced the oncoming SeeDs to scatter and enter the Clan Hunter's line one at a time.

Assim smiled at a group of four SeeD candidates clambering over a wall, carrying an odd assortment of weapons -- ranging from a quarterstaff, to a sword, to a shotgun. Depressing the lever on his mini-gun, a stream of bullets and tracers flew into the small group. They looked surprised. One crumpled instanly, dropping his now bullet-ridden quarterstaff as he fell.

A shield of bluish energy wrapped itself around the remaining three SeeD candidates. The bullets Assim lobbed at them bounced off into the air or against several nearby trees.

"Okay, now that's just cheap," he said, dropping the still-spinning weapon to the ground and pulling out a pair of Desert Eagle .50 caliber pistols. He spun them in his fists like a pair of spinning bludgeons.

Another man, named Sol, came forward to help advance on the three SeeD candidates. Wielding his great sword deftly, he did not even get close. A fireball blossomed in the fingers of the SeeD carrying the sword. It was hurled at the oncoming Clan Hunter officers. Assim's eyes widened and he screamed, "Oh, shi…!" as the fireball slammed into him, knocking him back against a tree.

Allied stepped directly in front of the SeeD candidates. His hands flourished in a quick motion that sent spinning death at them. Amazingly, it swept through their shields and sliced into the first boy. He gasped as one of Allied's steel disks appeared in his throat, blood blossoming like a small fountain and began to drip heavily down his chest.

The two remaining SeeDs eyed the weapon in Allied's hand with apprehension before starting forward. Fireballs and lightening crackled from their hands; weapons swung around in a dance. With a flourish, Allied stepped to the side, dodging the magic the SeeDs were using. Surprisingly, flames erupted up from the ground under the SeeD carrying the sword. He screamed as his uniform caught fire. He fled backwards over the bulwarks.

The last SeeD candidate was holding a pair of num-chucks with two blades on the end of the wooden handles. He advanced on Allied alone, num-chucks spinning in a flurry of bladed and blunted death.

With a horizontal slash, Allied's peculiar sword caught the spinning weapon in the chain that connected the two edges of the num-chuck, freezing both the spin and his blade. The candidate looked mournfully at the sword facing directly at him. Allied depressed a hidden trigger. A bullet fired out of the end of the sword, entered the left eye of the candidate, and exited in a bloody mass out of the back of his head. The SeeD candidate slumped to the floor.

Meanwhile, the sky began to darken. Lightning flashed between the clouds, occasionally hitting the ground. A triumphant cry went up in the Clan Hunters ranks as they noticed the SeeDs and SeeD candidates scurry backward in a retreat. A few pursued them into the no-man's land between the two armies. Cries of the wounded could be heard on the Clan Hunter's side of the field. The SeeDs, however, seemed to retain most of their former strength.

A golden bird flew out of the sky. It directed lightning into the ranks of the Clan Hunters, firing bolts of lightning as though they were spears of light. Fire erupted as one of the shots hit a tank, causing it to explode. The bird gave a huge shriek as the remaining tank focused fire on the massive winged beast. It fled from gun and tank fire, but not before firing more bolts of electricity into the ranks of the Clan Hunters, causing the ground to erupt in fire and earth as it scattered the remaining Clan Hunters.

"That's a GF!" shouted Ownage. He pulled his ax out of the side of a SeeD candidate and waved it toward the retreating bird. "That's the part we have to be worried about."

A large creature sprinted across the field. It was a dark red color, had horns coming out of its head, and was unlike anything Larry had ever seen. Fire leapt from its palms and eyes into the weary forces that had been the army of Clan Hunters. The creature leapt at Larry, who was still deflecting shots. With a shout, Larry dove to the floor and rolled upwards, bringing his lightsaber to bear. Impaling the demon, it screamed and faded. _Another Guardian Force,_ Larry thought. _Did I kill it?_

A SeeD on the other side of the field flinched and curled onto himself, as though someone had just punched him in the stomach. Apparently, the SeeDs were still connected to the GFs that they summoned.

Ownage gave a shout, and everyone looked up. Another GF had just appeared above the trees. Larry was about to lunge at it, when he noticed that it was looking at the SeeDs with dangerous intent, not at him and the CH forces.

Larry was startled as he realized just what he was staring at: A woman with blue skin and blue hair wearing almost nothing was hurling ice shards into the SeeDs -- hurling water that froze on contact with the SeeDs.

"FORWARD!" Ownage ordered, and Whitestar took up the cry. Assim picked up the mini-gun again and began pounding the now-disorganized SeeD ranks.

At least, they all thought the SeeDs were disorganized.

With only about fifteen remaining members and a tank, the group of Clan Hunters were about halfway across the field when the blue woman burst into flames, screaming as she fell. Allied held his head as though it had been stuck by a hammer, but stood back up, then dove for cover just as an intense hail of bullets flew over everyone.

Larry sensed all this just before it happened. Drawing upon the void, he threw himself at the line of SeeDs, heedless of his own safety. No one saw him coming, for -- just at that moment -- Fate had fired into the place where Larry aimed his leap. SeeDs scattered as Larry landed within the dust and confusion, slashing with his lightsaber in purple death. Five SeeDs came on top of Larry all at once -– smiling, as they expected easy victory. The first one held a large sword. Larry quickly cut through it, then flung out his hand. The SeeD flew backwards as though a giant hand had thrown him. Larry felt a thought tug on the edge of his mind, wondering just how he had done that, but he ignored it. There was no time for such thoughts.

A sniper's bullet went past Larry's shoulder to nail the another SeeD in the face who raised his arm to bring down a massive halberd on top of the _Ta'veren's_ head. Spinning in a circle, Larry slashed at two others with the calm efficiency of someone who knew what he had to do. The lightsaber went through the chest of one SeeD as he attempted to parry with a now-halved club. Then, the lightsaber was free. Larry lunged at the last SeeD in his way. This one, too, held a sword that looked similar to the one that Allied had been using, only it was bright blue in color.

With a crack and a _hiss_ of static, the two blades met in a dead lock. Larry looked extremely surprised. The void faded in his shock, and he began to feel his exhaustion from all the wounds and physical strain the day's activities had put on him. He would have failed, too, had he not looked over at the man he was facing. He was shocked to see a man with a large scar that ran across his face.

This SeeD was no candidate, as the grim look on his face showed. His blade hummed a quiet aqua blue that sent lights sparkling and playing off the faces of the SeeDs and Clan Hunter members that fought around them. The purple glow from Larry's lightsaber made the SeeD seem all the more sinister.

"You're very good," the SeeD said truthfully, "but, you are still new to that blade."

With that, the SeeD performed a backflip and brought the blade up underneath him, aiming the uppercut for Larry's chin. Realizing what the SeeD intended, Larry threw himself to the side as the SeeD pulled a hidden trigger releasing a bullet that would have entered into the throat of the _Ta'veren_. Instead, it punctured the shoulder and exited through the back. With a groan, Larry felt pain shoot through his whole body. Exhaustion crept over him. He began to slow and fell to his knees. His lightsaber rolled from his hand. Darkness crept in…then there was nothing more.

* * *

Squall Leonheart stood over the fallen Clan Hunter and saw that he was still breathing. He was beginning to wonder why he had accepted this contract for the SeeDs in the first place. The commander of Balamb Garden surveyed the battlefield, and knew his forces had not expected this much resistance. First Heartless, then this force that swarmed around him like a bunch of very angry wasps who had just had their nest kicked.

Making a judgment call, he realized they could not possibly obtain the Index now. He had already lost too many to continue. He decided to withdraw his forces and make for the Stargate. He would return, but with reinforcements, and a negotiator to avoid the fight if he could help it. This was not the end…


	10. Chapter 9: Anticipation

Author's note: I am afraid I may have written myself into a corner, but we'll just have to see if this solution I have worked up is good enough to get by.

* * *

Chapter 9: Anticipation

Larry sat up with a scream. His shoulder was on fire and he thrashed around on his bed. The pain jolted through his body for another second, and then began to fade quickly. Larry opened his eyes, and he knew that he was home. The back porch was beginning to fell warm, and he noticed that the sun was a little higher in the sky.

Looking down at the DreamLand device, he knew that his body had taken a serious blow thanks to the read out on his current status. That SeeD had used the weapon with such speed and grace…

With great sluggishness, Larry stood up from his chair. A breeze made him feel the sweat that had formed on his brow and on his back from the chair pressing into it. He played through all of those memories that had just occurred in the past five or so hours, and he knew for the first time that he had just tried to kill men.

_I am no murderer_, thought Larry, _it's not real anyway_.

Going into the house, he began to make himself lunch, when the doorbell rang. Going to see who it was, he opened the door to see his friend Delaine standing in the door.

Delaine was a girl that came up to Larry's shoulder with dark skin and an athletic build. Her hair was always changing from day to day though, and today it was held across her head in a clip making it seem like one singular unbroken plain. Her attitude suggested a person who knew much, and did not waste time with fools. Some how that sense of maturity from an eighteen year old seemed to make up for her lack in stature, giving her a silent commanding gaze.

Larry was sick of women with command gazes at the moment. He smiled though, because the two had been friends for just over a year, after Larry moved to this small college town and had a class with her.

"You ready?" She asked.

"Ready for what?" Larry said, squinting into the bright light that slashed it's way into his apartment's gloom.

"You forgot already?"

"No!… Yes."

"Well then I'm not going to tell you." With that she pushed her way into his apartment and said, "Get some shoes on and grab a jacket, we're going somewhere."

* * *

Ownage stood over the carnage that reflected on the field that the SeeDs had just vacated. He heard rotors roar loudly off of the canyon walls and he looked up to see a pair of UH-60s fly down into the box canyon. They set down about ten yards from where he was standing, and Ownage had to put a hand up in front of his face to block dust and wind from going into his face.

To his surprise and delight, more CH members began to deposit themselves on the ground and some of the survivors began to help lift the disconnected and wounded into the Blackhawks before they took off. Biffy, Tex, and FOX all came over with several others Ownage did not recognize. They looked around and seemed sad that they had missed the fight, though some had the decency to look away from the bodies of the dead.

The Doc was still shouting instructions to the Clan's medics when the Blackhawks took off with respect to the wounded patients they carried, "And for the love of GOD be careful with them!" He shouted at the departing choppers, "I just put them back together!"

"We got lucky," Ownage said a few minutes later, "It was mostly because of Harrod the Jedi that we managed to survive, he protected us and managed to create a distraction. He's gone though and the SeeDs will probably be back with their same number if not more in a couple hours. In that time I would like to get the Index and return with it to CH HQ on the other side of the ring and make them come in after _us_ to get it!" His voice began to rise on the last part of the sentence, and several people shouted agreement.

Waving his hands for silence, Ownage explained to the newcomers about the Heartless, and all good feeling in the valley faded with the light as twilight began to overtake the valley.

* * *

Larry followed Delaine into her car, wracking his brains to come up with an idea as to where they were going. Catching sight of the clock, he saw that it was three PM, and much later in the day then he had expected. His stomach growled loudly, reminding him that Delaine had hustled him out before he could have grabbed anything to eat.

"You're not going to tell me, huh?" He said skeptically as he glanced over to the drivers seat where she was busy shifting gears and working the clutch.

"Nope," she said.

"Typical," he muttered.

"What was that?" she asked looking at him sharply.

"Nothing!" he said innocently.

The car drove on into the afternoon sun.

* * *

Ownage crept carefully down into the hole at the end of the canyon where Recon's men had been besieged, and tensed when he saw several people with guns pointed at him.

Raising his hands to show he was unarmed he said, "Recon! Are you there?"

A man dressed in a trench coat with a cowboy hat stepped over the make shift barricade of fallen rubble that his group had made and said, "Goddamnit it's good to see you," He went over and embraced the bigger man.

"This isn't Brokeback Mountain, Lt. Commander, the correct thing to do would be to salute," Ownage whispered.

Hastily recoiling, Recon snapped to attention and did just that and there was a clatter as the others in Recon's group did the same thing. The rest of CH filed in behind the Admiral and were greeting the people who were in Recons group, happy to be reunited.

"Congratulations Recon on your performance against holding out the enemy, but we do need to move on toward the objective: the Index."

Recon looked up sharply, "So it is here," he said briskly, "Nikita didn't tell us what we were supposed to do and there wasn't time."

The Tank rumbled at the entrance to the structure, but it was too small to go through. A very tall Clan Hunter moved around the door frame and attached several large packages of C4 explosive around the entrance, "Everyone move away now!" He shouted, waving the detonator. The tank rumbled away from the door and everyone stepped behind the makeshift barricades that Recon's group had setup.

"Be careful with that Beyond!" Someone shouted, "Remember what happened last time?'

The tall man seemed to be muttering under his breath when he pushed the button, and an explosion rocked the floor, making it seem as though the floor itself moved like it was a wave, throwing everyone off of their feet except for Ownage, Recon, Assim, and Beyond. The hole that resulted was large enough to drive the tank through and then some.

"You were a little overzealous with the C4, Beyond." Said Commander Fate as he rolled through the opening created by the blast with the remaining tank, which happened to be the newer A-1 Abram.

"Better too much then too little," the man said, putting the detonator back into his pants pocket.

"Right, everyone lets get moving!" Ownage called.

* * *

Larry was puzzled to see the people on the mat shifting in a uniform fashion. "What is this?" he asked Delaine.

"This is my Ninjutsu class; you said you wanted to come some time. My instructor agreed to give you some lessons."

"Really? How'd you convince him to do that?" Larry asked, surprised.

She frowned at him, "Does it matter? I asked nicely if you must know."

He frowned back.

"He's just a nice guy like that, and everyone should learn how to use this sometime."

The instructor was a short Japanese man in a black robe with a lot of various decorations around his belt. He was giving off crisp instructions to the other black-garbed people. Catching sight of Larry and Delaine, the instructor came over and bowed to Delaine. Saying something in Japanese to her, Delaine bowed back and turned to Larry.

"This is Larry," She said, "I told you about him. Larry, this is Genji Taka-no-hemi."

With obvious scrutinity, the older man looked Larry over frowning slightly at the slack stance and the lack of any serious muscle development, but stopped on Larry's eyes.

Genji Take-no-hemi muttered something under his breath, and then said in perfect English, "Hello, Larry-san. I am welcome to have you at my Dojo on this day. If you will come with me I will find you a _gi_ to fit you."

* * *

Ownage moved into the line of Heartless as they came at him, not just the dark shapes he had encountered before, but some that had cloaks like wizards which hurled fireballs and lightening bolts at the Clan Hunters members. They were not extremely strong blasts, but they could take down a Clan Hunter member with determined effort. Turkey's spells were stronger and doing a better job of knocking those ones down.

There were also some larger Heartless that were causing more problems though. The last remaining Tank was having trouble keeping those ones back. These had a large round shape, so large they would put any sumo wrestler to shame and they were armored besides. They did have a weakness though: When they got close they would lunge forward with their huge mass with surprising agility, and plow through a person's body. It was a simple measure to dodge or sidestep the monster and attack it from its unprotected behind.

With a heave, Tex lunged at Ownage and pushed him out of the way of one of the lunging Sumo Heartless. With a start, he realized he hadn't been paying attention to the raging battle around him.

Bringing his sword over his head, he smashed it down onto a wizard who was trying to freeze Rouge where he was standing. The thing died upon impact. Hearing a rumble behind him, he spun with his axe raised and sidestepped, avoiding another charge from the same Sumo Heartless. Since his axe was already in the proper stance, all he had to do was swing it horizontally and throw the blade into the unprotected back of the sumo.

A bullet whizzed by Ownage's ear and he looked over his shoulder to see a Shadow Heartless fade into nothing. He nodded his thanks to FOX who was grinning at him, and pushed forward.

An explosion rocked the floor as a blast from one of Beyond's bombs threw the last big sumo Heartless across the room.

A fireball caught the CH member named Epic on the chest, and he fell with shouts of pain. Doc D was on him in an instant, white light springing to cover the fallen CH member's chest.

The Heartless disappeared then in the same unnerving fashion. After a few minutes of checking the wounded, Ownage formed up everyone and motioned forward down the hall again.

* * *

Larry stepped out of the changing room, tucking his robe. He stopped, and stood in darkness. A voice came out from the darkness, "Half of the art of the ninja is developing an ability to sense danger even when you cannot see it. If you make it to the other end of the room, you will be able to move on to the next level of your training."

The voice vanished, and Larry began to move forward, and immediately felt a blow in the stomach. Stepping backward, the voice returned, "Try again."

Larry stopped and thought to himself about what he had learned and DreamLand, and he began to empty all his thoughts and emotions from himself, to create the void and base his decisions on soul instinct.

With his first step, he began to feel a sense of danger and ducked as another blow whizzed over where his head should have been. Taking his next step, he sensed a leg lunging out to trip him up, and he jumped the leg to throw himself forward as another blow as directed at his ribs.

So he continued across the floor dodging each blow at him with frantic and quick steps, rolls, and dodges. His face hit the wall with a loud _smack_, and Larry tumbled to the floor, panting.

"Good, but an ox could have made less noise then you! We have much to work on," Genji- Taka-no-hemi said, and he strode to the other end of the _dojo_.

* * *

Hey guys, sorry for the delay. It's sort of filler at the moment…

Allied.


	11. Chapter 10: Two Betrayels

Disclaimer: I do not own anything here except for the concept of DreamLand and John Call.

* * *

Chapter 10: Two Betrayals 

Larry wondered what the Ninjutsu master had in mind for his next lesson, because clearly the last one was not considered a great success. He looked for Delaine but everyone in the now lit room was covered in black clothing, and he couldn't tell the difference from one person to the next.

"In this exercise," Genji Taka-no-hemi said as he came to a halt next to a blue mat, "You will learn humility." With that, the lights went out in the room, and Larry immediately began to sense danger all around him.

"Crud," he muttered.

That one word turned out to be a mistake.

* * *

Ownage looked over the pit to where the green T-shaped object was hovering. The Icon… 

Reaching out to grab it, he had to lean over the pit while Recon and some other CH members were creating a human chain while Ownage grabbed the Icon. As they pulled him back, a flash of light next to the pit resolved into a hologram. John Call materialized in another flash of light and surveyed the room.

"So you have gathered the Icon. That is the key to the entire Halo weapons system, but it can only be activated by the person who touched the weapon first. If the person, herby called 'reclaimer,' dies then the next person who touches the Icon after the reclaimer's death becomes the next one.

"It is important that you realize the importance of the Halo system, it should not be used unless there is no other choice. In addition, now that you have it the coordinates of the Halo ring and the clans currently on it will be published. Thank you and Have a nice day!"

"Will be published?" Fate said his eyes widening.

"What does that mean?" asked Rouge.

"Well whatever it means," FOX said, "I don't reckon it means anything good for us."

"It means that what was keeping us safe from other ambitious clans is no longer a factor. Every clan will know the location of at least one Halo and try to come here and maybe take the Icon from me," Ownage said, "Get High Command on the phone now and let them know that our position has been compromised, and also call for evac now!"

* * *

Larry could feel another blow coming from the darkness, and he rolled to the ground, striking at the legs of the attacker. With a cry, the attacker fell to the ground. 

Genji Taka-no-hemi's voice cried out, "STOP!" and the lights flashed back on and Larry stood there panting. In front of him, a black garbed student was already getting back on to his feet.

Behind Larry stood a ninja with a wooden sword pressed right into his neck.

"You are dead, Larry Thompson. No surprise really, because you were outnumbered and out of your element, but still just as dead," Genji Taka-no-hemi said with a musical note in his voice, "That is all I will show you today. Should you wish to return, the course cost 50$ a lesson or 200$ for unlimited lessons each month. Good day." He turned and strolled away.

The ninja behind Larry pulled off its mask to show Delaine standing with the fake sword, "Don't worry everyone fails that lesson, Larry." She said as she pulled off the heavy black top, "Let's go, I gotta change first though. Your clothes should still be in the locker room." And she hurried off to change herself.

Larry saw with a surprise that all the other ninja had gone back to their sparring, but with their garb being removed. _What a peculiar man_, Larry thought as he saw Genji.

* * *

Ownage cradled the Index as though it was a new born child, and jumped onto the UH-60 Blackhawk. As he did so, Ownage could hear the voices of more Heartless coming up out of Halo. 

He glanced over to Recon, who came over after talking on the radio with High Command. Whitestar also came over.

Ownage frowned at the young officer and almost told him to go away, but decided that his rank of 'Captain' was strong enough.

"What did they say?" Ownage asked.

"They are recalling us immediately and are ordering you to give the Index over to Ginge upon arrival at CH HQ. Also, with regard to the exterior threat and other clans coming here, both Ben and Cano believe that no other Clan has the resources to currently dig us out of Halo and feel that it could happen later but not right now," Recon glanced sideways at Ownage, "You know if you break that from gripping it so, Ben might drop you down to Crewman?"

Ownage frowned over at the younger man, "It won't break. The Forerunners wouldn't create something that would be so easily undone."

Whitestar said, "You know an awful lot about these things."

Recon and Ownage exchanged a glance, "I have been researching this for sometime. I always thought John Call stuck one in here."

"In where?"

"In DreamLand," Ownage turned to Recon as the chopper hit a pocket of turbulence, forcing all three to snatch for hand holds. The Index flew out of Ownage's hands and thanks to the quick reflexes of Recon, it was caught.

Ownage looked through his beard down at Recon, "Give it back to me."

Recon gave the Index slowly back, but Ownage snatched it away.

Recon looked pointy at the Admiral who glared back, Whitestar just sat there studying both of them without any expression on his face. The UH-60 flew on over the water toward CH HQ.

* * *

Larry walked up the steps to his house, and waved good bye to Delaine. She grinned at him as she gunned the engine and left peeling out of his apartment's parking lot. He winced, if his landlady had seen that, he would get an earful. 

Unlocking his door he walked in and looked at the clock on his microwave: 4:30. He pulled out a Coke can out of his small refridgerator and plopped down on the couch. He felt completely drained of energy. His muscles ached and his head spun. He had a Science essay for Biology 101 that he had neglected to do….

His eyes drifted closed, and before he truly knew it, he was dreaming true dreams.

* * *

Ownage and Recon stood at parade rest in the main chamber of the Clan Hunters. In front of them sat the three High Command members: Bobby, James, and Nikita. All three of them were frowning at the Admiral and the Lt. Commander. The two field officers had just finished their report. 

"So you're saying that the Heartless were already on this ring before we came?" James said scowling heavily.

"That's right sir," said Recon.

"About this part that you said had occurred after you obtained the index," Bobby said on top of Recon, "John Call appeared in a hologram and told you that he would broadcast the co-ordinates of Halo to every clan and every major power in DreamLand?"

"As I said sir," Ownage replied stiffly, "With respect, we don't have time to argue about the particulars. The point is that we will soon be swamped like a King of the Hill game with every clan trying to make a name for themselves. We need…."

"WE will decide what needs to be done, _Rear_ Admiral Ownage," James cut Ownage off.

Fleet Admiral Ben stepped forward then, he had been standing in a chair behind the two officers, "Sirs and ma'am, I believe that Ownage is correct here, and even if John Call was bluffing (which I doubt) it would be wise to prepare for an attack or at least devise an evac plan."

Nikita nodded, "Your concern is noted Ben, but we already have such a plan in place. The _Pride of Clan Hunters_ has moved away from the center of the ring and now sits behind it, hidden from sight and sensors. Should any ships enter the area we will wait for them to come in range and then attack."

"But what about the Stargate?" Asked Ownage, "They could come through that!"

Bobby answered this question, "We have a small squad stationed outside of the Stargate, watching for traffic. If they see any activity they are to report immediately."

Ownage glared at the High Command, especially James, "You've already gotten this planned out? Then what about the Index?"

"What about it?" James said, his eyes narrowing.

"What are you going to do with it?"

"That is none of your concern."

"But I'm the reclaimer!"

"All the more reason for you not to know the location," Bobby said, "It cannot be used without your direct contact to the Control Room. Which we still have not located."

Ownage looked over at Recon and caught his eye. Recon looked back and gave a slight nod.

* * *

Larry woke up without any real comprehension of where he was. Outside the light was beginning to fade. In the gathering gloom, he saw his DreamLand device. With a mutter and without realizing it, he plugged the ports onto his head and activated it before he fell asleep again. 

With a rush, all the memories of the last fight came back to Larry and he woke dressed in the same World War II jacket on a bed. Around him were more men, many still sleeping.

The room was clearly an infirmary. Stretching, Larry sat up only to feel tightness in his shoulder. Looking down he could see where the bullet had penetrated it in his clothing, but the wound itself had healed up and was only a white scar.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he stood up. Aside from the usual stiffness that comes after a long sleep, he felt fine. He noticed his Lightsaber was gone, and began to move toward the door.

He was intercepted by a sentry, he recognized him immediately.

"Spacer?"

"Yeah, that you Harrod?" rather then his usual joking manner, Spacer seemed down and serious. He carried only a pistol in his belt, but not the huge Grenade Launcher he had carried before.

"Yes, where's my Lightsaber?"

"Ownage has it with him."

Instantly Larry remembered the mission, "We got the Index?" He shouted.

"Keep you voice down!" Spacer said gruffly.

"Why? They're not going to wake unless they plug into the system."

Spacer frowned at this, "Yes, we got the index," he said in a normal tone, "But there's been a…change in command."

Larry stopped his celebration and looked back to where the man stood and frowned, "What do you mean 'change in command?'"

"It's like this Harrod, everyone knows we're here. John Call gave the co-ordinates to every clan and major power in DreamLand, and they'll all be here soon. The old High Command wasn't doing anything to prevent or stop the invasion so…Ownage and Recon took thigns into their own hands…"

Larry felt his skin go cold, "What happens to us now?"

"Well you can do two things," Spacer said, "Join us, or die."

"Ah. I thought that was what you were going to say."

* * *

Ownage was standing in the conference room and was issuing orders to the Clan Hunter members when Larry walked in. Two guards flanked the door. Around the room there were plasma burns and bullet holes on the walls. A spot of something red and sticky was still smeared across the floor near the entrence. 

Larry walked in escorted by Spacer and Biffy (who had been standing outside) and was brought before Ownage just as the three soldiers he had been telling off left.

The big man smiled broadly when Larry came in.

"Ah Harrod! So glad you managed to pull through that business after the SeeDs! We were afraid you would have died. The Doc managed to patch you up pretty good," Ownage stroked his axe disconcertingly as he walked around the room. At his belt sat Larry's Lightsaber.

"What has happened here?" Larry asked as Ownage turned away. In the small of his back was a green "T" shaped thing. The Index?

"The High Command of the old CH and I had a slight….disagreement in management, so I replaced them."

Larry frowned, it was too vague. "Why?"

"They don't see the threat that is coming. Even now I'm setting up defenses to deal with the problem. There is one task that remains now."

Larry frowned again, "Threat?"

Ownage explained about the clans knowing the location of the CH HQ, "There is one problem," Ownage explained, "Ben and a few others have barricaded themselves inside of the Flag room. The situation is similar onboard the _Pride of Clan Hunters_. Fury and Tex are leading an attempt to defend the bridge. They're outnumbered and will eventually fail, but I don't have time for this. If you want to join us, I'll give you your Lightsaber back and you can go dig out Ben and his bums."

Larry looked at Spacer, who had just picked up his grenade launcher again. He considered and then nodded.

The smile from Spacer and Ownage were bright enough to light the room as well as the Lightsaber on Ownages belt could have.

"They're down in the bottom of the Island. Take Biffy with you. The commander in charge of the effort is a man named Sol, good luck." With that, Ownaged tossed the Larry's Lightsaber to him and walked off.

* * *

Hope you like it! Please Read and Review! 


	12. Chapter 11: Flight or Flee?

Chapter 11: Fight or Flee?

Larry's thoughts whirled as he descended down the ramp into the bowels of the base. Behind him, Spacer and Biffy were looking anxiously ahead, as though anticipating the battle that would come.

Though he had agreed to remove the remains of the old ACH command, Larry could not feel right doing this. It felt wrong for some reason. He would have to speak with Ben and see what his side of the events concerning the Index was.

The path came to an intersection, and he saw a large number of men standing with weapons around them. One of them was trying to speak loudly into a comm. Unit at his belt.

"Look, I understand you don't like it, but it's the way things are now. If you all come out, you just take a pay cut and a slight promotion. If we have to come in there after you things could get messy…" the speaker cut off as Larry approached with his armed escort.

"I assume you're trying to negotiate with the rebels, Hero?" Biffy said, his voice cracking on the word _rebels_.

"Yes actually. They are unwilling to come out."

Larry stepped forward then, "Let me try."

The man handed the microphone over to Larry who said into it, "This is Harrod the Jedi. Can I speak with whoever is in charge?"

A burst of static and then: "Hello Harrod, this is Ben. I see you've decided to stab us all in the back to."

"With your pardon sir, I just found out. Let me come in and I'll see if I can't arrange some sort of settlement so that way this doesn't end in bloodshed." Static crackled over the communicator and then there was a prompt double _click_ which indicated a go ahead.

"Come in unarmed, Jedi. You'll have enough of an advantage without the saber."

As the door swung open, Larry saw with some surprise that there were a lot of people behind it. The room was large and spacious and filled with boxes and crates, clearly a storage room that had been taken over. All over sat CH members either nursing wounds or else helping someone else nurse wounds. Ten of the soldiers pointed an assortment of firearms at the door as it swung open. Oddly enough, Larry could feel no ill intention in them through what he had begun to perceive as the "Force."

Behind the barricade in front of the door stood a grim looking Ben, a mournful looking Nikita, an extremely angry looking James, and sitting with his back to the wall, a Bobby that looked to be nursing a broken arm. The all stared out of different eyes but all of them held the same questioning gaze.

Walking over to them, Larry said, "I've heard Ownage's story of the events surrounding this Coup, but I have not heard your side of the story. I think it would prudent for me to choose a side based on a biased decision, wouldn't you agree?"

All four blinked and several of the CH soldiers in the room stopped their nervous shifting and groaning to stare at the Jedi.

"You mean you are not in Ownage's faction?" asked Nikita surprised.

"Not yet, no. I have decided to use this to my advantage, though it won't last long. They have the odds in firepower over this holed up bunch, so I'd suggest you'd start talking fast."

"Just wait one second," said James stepping forward, "How are we supposed to know that you're speaking the truth. For all we know this could be a ruse or distraction."

Aggravated, Larry said hotly, "Look here _sir_ if we don't hurry up and leave this ring then we will be overwhelmed by either other clans or the Vuuzan Vong or Covenant or the Force knows what else. We cannot be fighting each other at a time like this. It has become a King of the Hill match and these people are in no condition to fight that kind of onslaught."

The four exchanged looks and then as each nodded, Ben began to say, "Ownage recovered the index just after you had your duel with the SeeD commander. You got injured so badly that your account was kicked from the machine for your own safety. After Ownage got the Index, he received a message from John Call the founder of DreamLand warning that a message had gone out informing everything and everyone in DreamLand the location of this base.

"I imagine that he figured that if anyone actually got the Index that he would want to use it. Now I've done some research and they say that the index was supposed to be carried by a monitor, but that monitor is no where to be found. As a result, any human or organic creature that carries the index will become drawn by it to where he will fell overly possessive and desire to activate the sequence no matter what. This was another Fail-safe protocol introduced by the Forerunners to activate the Halo systems incase the Index fell into the wrong hands."

Bobby picked up now, his voice quiet, "So the thing is, even if he does not realize it, Ownage will want to start the rings if he continues to hold that Index with him. He sees nothing else and thought that our measures to hold off the incoming invasion were not enough. So he mutinied with the help of Recon and Whitestar."

Larry frowned at that, "Ownage is a great guy, what makes you think he's been corrupted by an ancient alien device?"

James scoffed, "That was a dumb question. Look around you Jedi boy! Do you realize what has happened? He has _killed_ his friends and attacked his superior officers, and do you think he would have done that before?"

Larry nodded, "You do bring up a good point, and I think it would be safest if the Index were either recovered or destroyed. But even with my Lightsaber, Ownage has upped the security so strong in the base that I don't think we will be able to move around the base all that easily."

"So just what are you going to do?" asked a voice that had materialized over Larry's shoulder. At that moment, Larry sensed the presence of another person behind him. Spinning he glared into the eyes of John Call, the creator of the DreamLand system.

"I'm sorry, I just love doing that. It's always a shock to see your reaction," He said, toying with the collar on his jacket.

The High Command members behind Larry all gave a collective gasp at the sight of the Administrator of DreamLand.

Looking over at Ben, John said, "Very clever coming up with that explanation about the index. You were right on the nose."

All of the CH members were looking stunned now and a few even pointed guns at the Administrator with a questioning sort of stance. John Call didn't even look at the weapons pointed at him.

"So you had the Index but the Reclaimer has it now? I guess you did not account for the lust that is caused by the Index will eventually overwhelm the logic that dominates the mind of the now Fleet Admiral Ownage."

"He's not Fleet Admiral!" Ben snarled, "I am!"

John Call raised a skeptical eyebrow, "I don't think that appears to be the case. You are out numbered, out gunned, and what's worse? The lunatic has the keys to the super weapon. So then, Mr. Fleet Admiral, how are you going to get out of this?"

Ben's mouth opened and shut several times before he snapped it shut and shrugged. Then Nikita stepped forward and said, "The _Pride of Clan Hunters._ If we can get that then we can take the flag and…."

"And what?" John Call said cutting her off, "Even if you do get onto your ship then what? Ownage will still find the control room and eventually activate the ring. You need to get that before you leave. I am willing to help you do that. Although I cannot directly intervene, I will provide you one advantage. An associate of mine is willing to get you out of this room, provided you leave with the Index."

At this point James came forward, "And just how are we supposed to do that? In case you didn't notice, we're locked in the room with no way out."

John waved his hand, and Larry felt something wavier in the reality around him. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but something about the room was different.

"The answer is simple," John said, "When I last checked, most of the shuttles were onboard the _Pride_. However, there are about two Goa'uld cargo ships left in the shuttle bay, along with three UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters. You have a handful of soldiers here and a handful on the _Pride…_"

He trailed off as though expecting another person to pick it up, "We just have to get to the shuttles…" Larry said slowly.

John Call rolled his eyes.

"Who is this associate?" Bobby asked.

John tapped the floor next to where he was standing. It crumpled away and a man in a long black trench coat came up from the bottom. He wore a black goatee and had slicked back hair.

"YOU!" Larry shouted, reaching for his Lightsaber, only to remember it wasn't there.

"Yes yes! It is I! OUTLAW!" He spun his Desert Eagle pistols in his hands.

"Enough," John Call said.

The man in the black trench coat went quiet, but stroked his beard furiously as though he had just been robbed of something that he had been looking forward to.

"You should go back to them," John Call said turning to Larry, "And get your Lightsaber back, and attempt to get back the Index from Ownage. Then you need to leave the Ring as soon as possible."

Larry thought, "If I kill Ownage and take the Index from him, what will happen?"

The administrator looked thoughtful, "I am not really sure. Most likely you will become the next Reclaimer," he stopped and frowned. Quickly stepping to where he could reach, he put his hands onto Larry's forehead, a tingle ran through Larry. He could hear John's thoughts in his head:

_When you feel a passion you do not understand, or an urge to destroy something bottle that away into your mind and create a way for you to tap into that energy again. If you feel anger, save it. If you feel an urge to destroy the universe, save that too. If you become the next reclaimer you must remain strong against those urges. Since you are a Jedi and have some rough control of the Force I think you should have no problem using these emotions to fuel your control of the Force. Do not use it often though, because that leads to the Dark side…and for a _Ta'veren _that is unacceptable. _

Larry suddenly became more aware of the things around him, more capable to control his feelings and emotions.

John Call turned to go, but was stopped by Nikita, "Why are you doing this?" she asked him.

John Call turned and smiled at her, and began to fade. First his legs and chest, and then his head, until all that was left was his smile, and then that too disappeared.

Larry shook his head, "He must like his entrances and exits more then he actually enjoys the conversation I think," he said.

"You don't work for him," Outlaw said scratching his goatee, "Anyway, this leads down to the hanger. I think we should leave."

Larry turned and walked out of the barricade back toward where all of Ownage's people were waiting.


	13. Chapter 12: Truth and Reconciliation

Chapter 12: Truth and Reconciliation

Larry exited the command center, retrieving his lightsaber from Hero, who still stood at the door.

Walking back towards the hanger bay, wondering if his comrades would find their way here, he pulled into his consciousness, disturbed by the conspiracy that swirled around him. He couldn't shake the sensation off. He felt partially responsible for what was happening. John Call had said that the fate of the game was twisted with his actions could he be accountable for the actions of others? Or did his status effect only events, and not the decisions of others?

The shuttle ramp lowered and Larry entered. He needed to talk to Ownage.

Descending from the shuttle, Larry step onboard the _Pride_ and headed for Ownages's HQ.

Abruptly, his muscles jerked sending him 10 feet into the air, the cloth of his uniform brushing the ceiling plates. He rolled, landing on the other side of the corridor just as blaster fire exploded from the hallway that had been beside him. Lightsaber already glowing in his hand, he stood in a combat position, ready for a confrontation.

Two people sprinted around the corner, bullets and beams skittering down the hallway behind them. Barely avoiding a collision, the pair dashed around Larry and into the maze of passageways near the _Pride's_ core. The Jedi stepped to the center of the hallway, his blade humming before him, blocking the path of those hunting his friends.

The two men gripping phaser pistols, and a man with an M-4 raced down the opposite hallway, curses streaming out of their mouths as they headed for a junction far out of their way.

"_I must find Ownage_"

Larry watched the three men disappear around the corner, still concerned for the safety of his friends. Pacing himself a little faster this time, Larry picked up his course towards the Operations Center. Someone there could tell him were to find Ownage.

He summoned the lift. The doors sprang back to admit him and he stepped inside. The walls of the lift were punctured with dozens of holes. Larry frowned, looking at the residue that coated the walls.

"_I hope this thing still runs_."

Taking a deep breath Larry keyed the sequence for the command center. The lift went up. Larry stepped onto the bridge and into the sites of five marines. The cold form of his light saber worked its way into his palm. These men, these warriors, were scared of him. Maybe he could use that.

He narrowed his eyes and pushed his voice deeper.

"Where is the Fleet Admiral? I wish to speak with him."

His inquisition was met with straying eyes. All five men were looking towards the conference room to the left of the bridge. Yes, Ownage was there, but he wasn't alone. Something, no, someone, was there with him. Harrod turned trying to get to the conference room. Five men stood in his path. A current of annoyance drifted across his face. The blade of his light saber formed a rod in front of him. Five men stepped slowly to the side. He entered the conference room.

Cano sat, slumped, his cuffs locked to the table. Ownage was leaning against the opposite wall, and glanced up sharply when Larry entered. A sharp grin crawled into Ownages features. He started to speak, "Welcome Jedi, to my command center." Ownage waved a fist high in the air, a gesture of power, of victory. "Come, meet my guest."

Larry stepped forward, and for the first time, he noticed a slender collar buckled around Cano's neck. He peered forward, curious. The flash of tiny lights rotated around the edge of the collar and two gray wires ran up Cano's neck to disappear into his hair.

Looking back at Ownage, Larry gestured at the collar. "And this would be…?"

Ownage looked incredibly proud of him self as he explained. "It's a link destabilizer. The valiant Cano has been captive to DreamLand for 13 consecutive hours now. I tried other... _persuasions _but he refused to talk. It seems that they were not as effective as they should have been. I need information. He could have cooperated, but his ideas of _loyalty _and _honor_ seemed to confuse him. Ideals will bring a man to his knees. And look at him, his endurance is seeping away, draining from his body, leaving it a puppet to be manipulated at the whim of others. I have no use for such ethics, such weakness. I am the reclaimer. I control the fates of many. Our pathetic leaders didn't seem to understand the value of such power, the admiration of the masses. They refused to use the control they had at their finger tips. And look where they land. Holed up, fighting for their lives, when they once commanded the doom of so many."

Quiet rage welled into Larry's mind and he fought to control himself. Straightening he stepped forward reaching to unlock Cano's cuffs. Ownage didn't move to stop him as he got closer to Cano, but when he unlocked the cuffs the Fleet Admiral's posture became aggressive. Larry spoke before Ownage could. His voice was harsh, accusing.

"He will be set free; this is one step past the line between necessity and torture, o' great relcaimer. Your delusions make you weak, and your single minded obsession with yourself and the power that circumstance has handed you, show you to be a smaller man. Such power befits you poorly."

An incredulous look planted itself on Ownage's features. He was amazed that this Jedi had the gall to spit in his face and expect to stride away unchallenged. Larry and Cano were halfway to the door. Ownage fingered the gun belted to his side. The bolt came flying back towards him just barely missing his left shoulder. Ownage un-strapped his wicked half-moon axe as he rolled to avoid his redirected fire. Swinging in a wide arc, Ownage's axe clashed violently with Larry's light saber. Surprise coursed through the Jedi as his blade failed to rip the axe asunder.

"Meet my blade Jedi, and equal match for yours I would think." Harrod swept his other saber out from under his cloak, just in time to parry a seeping blow directed at his knees. Crossing his two blades he lunged to the right slamming off of the wall and rolling to a stand behind Ownage. The tip of his purple blade skimmed across the flesh of Ownage's left thigh. A cry more of anger then pain burst into the air as Ownage turned to hack at Larry. As the blade scratched the floor beside his skull, Larry twisted trying to avoid the irritated metal fragments that sparked into the air beside his face.

The hot hiss of the yellow light saber meet the metal of Ownage's weapon a foot above Larry's head; struggling to rise he kicked Ownage's wounded leg. As his muscles gave under the strike of Larry's boot, Ownage strove to parry the Jedi's second saber.

The purple blade discovered its mark in the Ownage's torso. The larger man crumpled, looking to the wall for support. Pulling his pistol from his side, Ownage stared down the point of his gun towards Larry.

Dropping his second saber, Larry focused his thoughts inward, pulling him self into the current that was the force. He felt danger.

Ownage tilted his gun towards Cano.

Larry lunged forward, his blade singing its path through the air, trying to divert aim of the gun.

Cano and Ownage fell at the same moment. And Larry's cry reverberated in the limits of the conference room.

His knees hit the cool metal of the floor plates as he sunk to Cano's side. Larry pulled on the wires that ran into Cano's hair, disconnecting the device that anchored him to DreamLand. Cano's form disappeared as his account was deactivated. Ownage's image had already decompiled, and two feet above the spot where he had been the Index hung.

Larry lifted his arm, reaching to claim the Index. He pulled back his hand just short of the hovering Index. His eyes narrowed as he though about what he was doing. Was he truly certain he could control the Index? Was he capable of using it without the desire for dominance overpowering him? Could he risk the Index falling into the hands of someone who had no desire to control it? Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and retrieved the Icon.

John Call materialized in a flash of light and surveyed the room.

"So you have gathered the Icon. That is the key to the entire Halo weapons system, but it can only be activated by the person who touched the weapon first. If the person, herby called 'reclaimer,' dies then the next person who touches the Icon after the reclaimer's death becomes the next one.

"It is important that you realize the importance of the Halo system, it should not be used unless there is no other choice. In addition, now that you have it the coordinates of the Halo ring and the clans currently on it will be published. Thank you and Have a nice day!"

When Larry opened his eyes, John Call was gone.

The door to the bridge whisked open and Larry slowly walked towards the command center, concentrating, pulling his thoughts together. The five men where still standing guard. Larry spoke,

"Ownage's account has been terminated. Your allegiance belongs to those who would lead you, those who have earned the privilege of leading you. Don't turn your error into a mistake by refusing to correct it." Larry tossed a com unit toward the first man in line. "I would make use of it if I were you."

Larry made his way back towards the shuttle, telling the ACH members about Ownage's deactivation. Many of those who had joined Ownage surrendered their arms, unwilling to fight for a cause that was only carried by their leader, a man who was now dead.

* * *

Larry walked into the bridge after making sure the entire rebel forces were disarmed, where he saw a man of average height but of large build standing over the control console to navigation. He looked up when Larry entered.

"So you're Harrod, huh?" He had two HE Pistols fastened to his belt and a few extra magazines that held the HE pistol's 12.7 mm semi-armor-piercing, high-explosive rounds, "I'm Lt. Commander Fury. I was holding off the uprising from the engine room, but when you showed up, that allowed us to break through."

"_You're_ Fury?" Larry asked.

As the Fury nodded, Larry felt the presence of two other people enter the room and turned to see Fox and Tex enter, both looking extremely tired from all the fighting.

Tex and Fox were both extremely happy to see Larry and both rushed over to give him a hug, which proved akward between all the weapons and equipment each carried.

Fury cleared his throat again and all three tuned to look at him, "We do have a problem, I don't know why but I'm reading slipspace and hyperspace ruptures near the edge of the system, lots of ruptures."

Larry groaned and explained, "That is probably the other clans and other such things in DreamLand. They've come for Halo," and he explained about the index and how John Call had alerted everyone in DreamLand as to it's location.

"So it's become a big King of the Hill match?" Lt. Com. Fury asked.

"Yes, sir," Larry said.

"Well we're clearly out gunned," Tex said, "I think it would be unwise to stick around." And she smiled as Fury nodded in agreement.

Fox produced his PDA and said after a long wistle, "I reckon' that we don't got much time to do much of anything," he flashed them his screen and it read "31:23 Minutes Remaining…"

Tex pulled out hers and she groaned, "I have just a little more then Fox."

Larry looked at Fury, "What we need to do is get the remaining CH members off of Halo. They can't activate it without the Index, which I have right here. We need to escape to somewhere else."

Fury nodded and said, "They have shuttles down on the base, I'm going to try and get as much equipment as we can on board the _Pride_. We can always rebuild else where."

Tex walked over to the console and said, "The ships are from at least three clans at the moment, but they're all fighting each other so that should give us some time to get organized and escape."

Fox walked over to look over her shoulder, "By gum she's right. There's TEK, MI2, and BFM!"

"Do you know what any of those stand for?" Larry asked.

"Nope," Fox said with a shrug.

"I just established contact with Nikita, and she has the flag. They're bringing the last four shuttles and two Blackhawk helicopters along with the rest of CH up with them," he looked up, "Admiral Ben is dead, he was killed by two of the traitors when they spotted him trying to board one of the shuttles, but he killed both before their grenades killed him."

Tex gasped and Fox groaned softly.

"When will they be onboard?" Larry asked softly.

"In about a half hour. In the mean time, why don't you and Fox go explain to the prisoners their options?"

Fox smiled and turned around, hoisting his Springfield sniper rifle over his shoulder, and Larry followed him.

* * *

The figure remained unseen in the corner of the room, her clothing allowing her to blend into the shadows. She watched the Jedi leave carefully, she knew that sight did not matter to Force users, she being one herself.

Her orders had been clear, not to let the Jedi die. She never questioned orders, but having a guard for a Jedi seemed like overkill. This did not mean that she was extremely surprised to find out just _who _the Jedi was: her friend, Larry.

Oh yes, she would watch him closely, but she wanted to know why there was such an interest in him.


	14. Chapter 13: On the Run

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the following, except for John call and the DreamLand system. If you choose to reproduce them, I can't stop you but I would like to read it.

Chapter 14: On the Run

Larry stepped in front of the captured mutineers and stood with his legs spread out, "Here's the situation," he said as Fox took up position next to him and removed his Springfield from his shoulder, "We are on the run. Every creature in this game is after us, and many of the clans too. They are after something that could put too much power into any one clan's hands, which is why we have left the base we had set up."

Fox stepped in then, "Harrod's right, y'all. We're all fried if they get their hands on that precious Index that Ownage used. And the way I see it, ya could be more use fighten' then if you were all stuck here as sitting ducks. If ya get my drift."

Larry nodded, "We understand the temptation to mutiny, but in the end it has changed noting…"

"And what if we don't?" shouted one of the mutineers.

Fox and Larry exchanged looks, "Then you will be tried and found guilty of mutiny, and such treason is dealt with in only one way," Larry said.

"We'll give y'all some time to think it over," Fox said as he moved out of the room followed by Larry. Chatter and talk erupted behind them.

Fury looked up from the navigation read out that showed where they were flying and asked, "How'd it go?"

The three members of High Command were standing there now too, but Bobby was looking extremely tired as he was leaning up against a console and both Nikita and James didn't look much better.

"They're talking it over," Larry said, "Where are we going?"

"We need to re-supply and make repairs, so we need to go to a world that is technologically advanced…" Nikita said, she was looking at another control console looking concerned, "The structure took a lot of damage during the fighting onboard."

Bobby's eyes rolled up into his head and he fell over, unconscious. S

"He's reached the time limit," Nikita said looking down at him and then joined Larry and Fury at the navigation console, "Where are we?"

James picked up Bobby and snapped, "You, Fox, help me with Bobby!"

Fox set his rifle down and sauntered over, and grabbed Bobby's ankles and the two made their way out the door.

"We've flown just past Coursaunt," Fury said, "Anywhere within the Galactic Alliance space should be good to get supplies in…"

"We should maintain a low profile and get our supplies quickly," Nikita said and Fury and Larry nodded agreement.

A throat cleared behind them and all three turned to a corner of the room where the ever flamboyant mercenary Outlaw was standing.

"I have been through here many times, and I believe the best place to get supplies unnoticed would be Nar Shaddaa, the smugglers moon just off Nul Hutta," he said.

Fury nodded, "Yes, but a warship this size will attract attention no matter where it goes. We will need to send a smaller shuttle down to get the necessary supplies."

"But who should we…" The bridge door opened cutting Nikita off and James came back in followed by a darkly tanned man wearing sunglasses and a hat stepped in, and Larry recognized Spacer.

Looking around the man said, "Well we've talked it over amongst us and all of us decided that we were a bit hasty to follow Ownage like that…" he grinned suddenly, "We would like to come back and help the Clan Hunters survive."

Larry smiled at Spacer, "I'm very glad to hear you say that," he said.

Spacer's face darkened though, "One problem though is that we know that Recon, Biffy, and some others are not with us and they're either still on Halo, or else they're running loose."

James' head snapped up at that, "Fury, check the ship. Make sure that there are no more renegades onboard."

Nikita said, "If that is the case then I want to speak with them myself," she moved toward the door pulling out her PDA and began tapping at it. Fury moved to go with her, but she waved him away, "I'll be fine," she said, "Besides, You have to check the ship."

Fury nodded, "I'll take Tex with me," he said, and he pulled out his own PDA and began tapping out a message to Tex, "She's a remarkable tracker when she needs to be. I wonder what her story is…" he walked off.

James turned to Outlaw, "You say you know your way around Nar Shaddaa?" he asked, "Are you working for us or what?"

Outlaw stroked his well oiled mustaches easily and then stood up, "Why yes! I am working for you," he said, "And I have some contacts on Nar Shaddaa that could really help you out…"

"How much do you charge," James asked bluntly.

Outlaw twirled his mostauche and grinned in a half smile, "Nothing. This time, it's free," when he saw the questioning look in James' suspicious gaze he said, "I'm feeling generous, that's all!"

James mulled it over, "All right…" he said.

Turning to Larry, James asked, "How much time do you have left?"

Larry pulled out his PDA and pushed the "on" button. The clock came up immediately, "Only an hour left," he said.

James grimaced slightly, "Alright. Here's what we're going to do. The ship is going to move into a system near Nul Hutta. Then we're all going to shut down and I will place a mandatory lock down on the ship for the next 24 hours. Then, provided that the ship is not discovered, we should be at full strength and well rested for our next operation."

He nodded to himself, "I'm going to go talk with Nikita about this, and I want all of you guys to find a place to stow yourselves and remain there. Alright?"

"Sir, is that such a wise idea? What if there are people still onboard? What if the people who claim to be the Clan Hunter's soldiers again decide to hang back and take over the ship?" Larry asked.

"That's why I'm going to lock the ship down," the High Command sitter said, "No one can operate the ship except for High Command. And should anyone try, an alert is set to be sent to me via email."

Larry whistled, "Pretty slick," he said.

"You're darn right it is. It's also setup to do that if we are boarded or an attack takes place…" he trailed off as he noticed Outlaw watching intently, "Well! Go on! I'll expect you in twenty-four hours!"

Larry turned and left the bridge, making for one of the crew cabins.


	15. Chapter 14: Plans

Chapter 14: Plans

John Call looked at _The Pride of Clan Hunters_ through his computer screen. He was sitting in the real world now. Even though he could surpass the maximum time allowed by regular gamers, he seldom did because of the actual risk that would eventually remove his body from his mind.

Standing up and walking around his desk, he studied the administrator's view of the universe inside of DreamLand. Currently there were about 3400 people online, which meant that he had sold about three times that number, if not more. He found that as more of the devices became available, more people decided that they did wanted to own one.

And what was better? The older owners of the Device would keep coming back as soon as possible to spend more and more of their time and money inside of the system. It was perfect!

The profit that John was making on this alone meant that he could retire at any time and live comfortably the rest of his life, but he enjoyed being the head of the company and also enjoyed his reputation while in DreamLand itself. _I'm the head of a universe!_ John thought to himself smugly.

"And next? Everything else…" John said aloud.

Larry rolled up tiredly and stretched to work the kinks out of his muscles. The pains he had gathered in DreamLand quickly began to fade away, and he noticed the time.

_Twenty-four hours…_Larry thought to himself, _Just as well, I have to get to class soon._

Taking a quick shower and gulping down some food, Larry gathered his books up and quickly made for class at a quick trot. He had no desire to oversleep any thing as important as his calculus classes.

As he entered, he peered around the lecture hall and grabbed a seat next to Delaine, who was a graphic arts major. She looked as tired as Larry felt.

Sparing him a sideways glance, she continued to doodle on the sheet of notes that she was planning on using for today's lecture. A slight smile lit up her face, and Larry asked, "What's up?"

"Nothing," she said and continued smiling. Larry almost threw up his arms in frustration. She _always _did that, and he _HATED _it.

Peering at the drawing, Larry noticed that it was the beginnings of a figure of feminine qualities that appeared to be sprouting wings, "What's that?"

She grimaced slightly, "You know better then to ask me that! I don't know yet. Hey, wanted to ask you what are you doing this afternoon?"

John motioned to where the large professor was walking in, "Nothing except homework."

She looked at him sideways through her lashes at him, "You want to take another lesson from Genji Take-no-hemi today?"

Larry lowered his voice as the large professor stood ready over the overhead and began shuffling his notes and overheads, "How much will it cost?" he asked.

"Nothing," she whispered back, "It's on me."

Larry cocked his eyebrow, "How much?"

She glared at him dangerously and Larry put up his hands while grasping his pen between his right thumb and forefinger as though to ward off a blow, "Alright alright! I'll go."

Delaine smiled and went back to her notes and began to jot down the formulas that were on the overhead. Larry smirked at her for a moment, and then went back to his own notes and began scrawling down the notes for himself.

Squall Leonhart glared contemptuously out of his icy blue eyes at what was left of the island that had formerly been the base of operations for the Clan Hunters. He was angry enough to grind his teeth, and managed to avoid such a display of emotion by sheer force of will, but his face was so dark that the SeeD candidate that saluted in front of him flinched at that gaze.

"Reports say that this base has already been evacuated by the Clan Hunters, sir."

Squall regained control of his face with some effort and changed what he was about to say, "Anything else?" he asked calmly. Clam like a river is calm.

The SeeD candidate flinched as though Squall had shouted and brandished his gunblade at him, "They did not use the Stargate and it looks like none of the other ships in orbit around the ring have sent forces to investigate this island, but there is evidence of a firefight inside, including bodies."

"Heartless?" Squall suggested and frowned when the candidate shook his head, "The wounds are only consistent with weapons that humans would carry. The Heartless have however begun to show up inside of the base. The recon units are requesting withdrawal. Some of them are beginning to suffer wounds too quickly to heal up."

"Any sign of the Index?"

"No, sir. Most likely it was taken by the clan members before they left."

Squall nodded and turned to his assistant, a Lt. Colonel Xu and said, "We need to find them. Give the order to fall back to the Stargate and ready the _Ragnarok_ for flight once we reach Balamb," he turned back to the still waiting candidate, "Tell them to fall back. You've done well."

Both Xu and the candidate saluted with their fist to their heart and walked off of the landing vessel's observation deck.

Squall Leonhart, Supreme Commander of SeeD, glowered at the island and cursed the person who had hired all of SeeD to take this Index. He would never accept a job from _them_ ever again. No matter how much was offered.

Larry walked from his calculus class frowning about the homework that had just been issued. He really didn't like the in-depth math that was offered by the professor, because Larry had a hard time applying math to anything that had no practical need. He was great at physics and chemistry because those had a practical _need_. None of this, "Let's graph a line for no reason" nonsense.

Moving quickly, Larry had to get to the other side of campus before his next class started. A big history buff, Larry usually enjoyed his Ancient History course but he was having a hard time concentrating on anything today. He was counting down the hours until he would be able to join back up with the Clan Hunters onboard the _Pride._

He even began researching the planet of Nar Shaddaa on his laptop to see what he could find out. So it came as quite a surprise when Professor Hartwell spoke Larry's name loudly.

"I'm sorry sir," Larry said looking up from a picture of one of the docking bays on the planet to find a purple faced Professor glaring down at him.

"Indeed you should be," Professor said with a light British accent, "Now maybe you can tell me who the leaders of the Three Kingdoms of China were?"

Following Larry's blank stare, Hartwell snorted, "I thought not."

He moved off, but not before saying, "I hope you pay better attention in the future, Thompson. Now, who can tell me the correct answer?"

Serro Varch who was a student from Australia rose his hand and asked, "During which time period?" Serro's voice took on a lecturing tone, "There were different leaders for each of the Kingdoms, starting with Cao Cao for Wei, Liu Bei for Shu, and Sun Quan for Wu. However, Cao Cao was replaced by Cao Pi in 220 AD…"

The Professor cut him off, "Thank you Mr. Varch. I think you have sufficiently answered the question to our liking. Don't you all agree?"

The class either moaned or nodded their heads in agreement, and the Australian sat down.

After one more significant look from the Professor, Larry moaned to himself softly and shut his laptop mournfully.

The man landed on his face against the cold stone floor. His body shuddered as he tried to sit up, but flinched back from the gaze of the creature that stood next to a large pit.

His body was ragged, and pain racked him as he even tried to move. He took a chance to look around and found himself inside of a cavernous room without a ceiling. He gaped as the clouds flew by and past the mouth of the cave at a speed that was faster then any cloud should move normally, even during the most dangerous of storms.

Shying away from the creature again, he tried to overcome the fear that was clutching his heart so strong that it was making it difficult to breathe. He managed to study the creature out of the corner of his eye without burying his head back into his hands.

The first thing he noticed was that the creature was big. Nearly ten feet tall and looked like a human, but beyond that it was dressed in black so it was difficult to tell much else. That was all that he had time for before a voice began to dominate his mind and blew all other thoughts and fears out of his skull.

YOUARENOTOFTHISWORLD. WHOAREYOU?

The voice was so overpowering that it took the man a few moments to realize that it had asked him a question and he was so confused by the question that he only stared in silence with his mouth hanging open. The voice spoke again, and this time the presence in his skull threatened to rip his head open.

SPEAK!TELLMEWHOYOUAREWORM!

Throwing his hands to the sides of his head, the man writhed on the stone floor and cried out, "I don't know!" in a wail that was laced with pain.

HOWDIDYOUCOMEHERE?

The man breathed heavily for a few moments before answering, "Through a Stargate."

FROMWHERE?

The pain stopped and he moved to wipe the tears off of his cheeks and said, "From another world, the Hork-Baijr homeworld."

The man collapsed as the oppressive voice made a demand of him.

YOUWILLSHOWUSTHEWAYTHERE.

Sitting up, the man looked down into the pit, "Us?"

Before he could blink, the creature was behind him and planted a boot firmly in the back of the man, who cracked his head on the stone floor.

A voice that sounded of rotting flesh came into the ears of the man as he tried to curl in on himself, "No one questions the Great Lord, human," it said.

"I'm sorry!" The man sobbed, "I'm sorry master! I did not know!"

The sound of the man's cries faded as the sound of laughing took over the man's brain.

Larry paused in the act of walking down a set of stairs and frowned back into the room. Something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what.

He had felt like a cloud had gone over the sun, or like a storm had just broken over the campus.

But it was a bright sunny day, and he quickly shrugged the feeling off. He had more important things to do then worry about fancies.


	16. Chapter 15: Out of the Frying Pan

Chapter 15: Out of the frying pan…

Larry ached all over after his second meeting with Genji Take-no-hemi, but despite that he felt like he had achieved much. This time he had learned more about detecting people who did not want to be seen unobserved, a tricky task but one that Larry had caught on to almost every time. Every time, except the first time. Delaine had planted a foot in the small of his back so firmly, that it still ached.

From then on he had managed to defeat every one of master Genji's hidden watchers, but not without taking a few pains for his efforts.

The day was getting dark, and Larry was ready to catch some real sleep before his return to DreamLand this evening.

Walking next to him, Delaine smirked at him, "You sure you're okay?"

Larry coughed slightly but waved her off, "Yes, I'm fine."

Truth be told, Larry hurt a bunch. But he wasn't about to show that in front of the only ninja in the _dojo_ who had managed to lay a hit on him.

"Thanks for the lesson, Delaine. But I have some things I need to get done tonight. I have to finish studying for that calculus test and need to read up on the information concerning the fall of the Han dynasty," Larry said as he unlocked his car, "I'll see you in class, right?"

* * *

Larry came to himself inside of DreamLand where he had fallen asleep the night before: inside the cabin that he had taken onboard the _Pride._ There were so few actual clan members left that there were more cabins now then fighters, but Nikita and the rest of High Command hoped that would change in the next visit.

A fist pounded on the door that was covered in gilt and hieroglyphs in the Goa'uld fashion, and a tall blonde haired man stepped in who looked familiar.

"You're Harrod, right?" the guy asked.

It took Larry a moment to realize that the blonde had just quoted his screen name, "Yeah, that's me alright."

"Good, I'm glad you're awake. HC is assembling a team to go down to Nar Shaddaa and they want a Jedi on it. You game?"

Larry stood up, "Of course. I just need to get a few things together before I go. I'll meet you guys on the bridge, alright?"

Larry came onto the bridge to find Fury, Nikita, James, Bobby, Tex, Fox, Assim, Outlaw, the blonde haired man, a girl whom Larry did not know, and a few others like Biffy and Spacer.

"This team will consist of seven members," Nikita said, "Fox, Assim, Tex, Outlaw, Harrod, Allied, and Section. Allied will lead the expedition because he is the ranking officer," she said motioning to the tall blonde haired man, "but Outlaw has been hired to bring us into contact with the Hutts who control this system. Once we re-supply and rearm, we should be able to move on."

James stepped forward next, "At the same time, Fury and I will go into the city and try to recruit some new blood and maybe get our hands on some equipment."

Then Bobby said from behind James, "I will lead a small group of soldiers to attempt to raise funds while we are here. Our money is running low, and we will have to leave able to sustain ourselves should it come to another fight. All of you try to gain money if you can, but don't attract attention to yourselves. The Clan Hunters have the Index, and every clan, guild, and faction knows that. Understood?"

Everyone either nodded or murmured their approval.

"Everyone else who is not going will remain behind and watch the ship. This space is dangerous and this task is most important. If we're stuck on Nar Shaddaa or if the Index is lost, things will be very bad," Nikita said, "If you need help, raise us on our PDAs, alright?"

The crew members who were staying behind nodded their heads, and the High Command quickly placed the ranking officer in charge. Larry recognized the cold blue eyes of Fate and nodded in approval. He and the Doc, who was still the group's white mage, were to be in command of the _Pride_ for this short amount of time, but they were important because they had remained loyal to the Clan Hunters during the mutiny.

"Alright, everyone head out to the Hanger," James said and began to push his way through the small crowd to lead the way, "We're all going down on different ships, so form up with your team and make your way down to the surface in one of the remaining five SEC shuttles that you all arrived on Halo in.

"Any questions?"

"Do you have a list of the parts that the ship needs?" Allied asked, "I doubt I can find something labeled "generic parts" anywhere."

Nikita clicked her tongue in irritation and tapped the screen of her PDA and sent a list to Allied's own PDA, "Any other questions?" Nikita asked.

"Remember, if your crew cannot make it back to the ship within the five hour limit, let us know and hunker down for a while. Nar Shaddaa is a large place, and even though it's dangerous you should be able to find a place to lie low for a long enough time for you to make it back. Does everyone understand that?" Bobby said from the helm.

Everyone nodded their heads and anxiously indicated that they were ready to make for Nar Shaddaa without wasting any more time. The began to break up and Larry moved to stand nearer to Allied.

And that was when Larry noticed the impossible.

Standing in the doorway leading directly off the bridge and into the captain's quarters stood the Clan Hunters' former chief of intelligence: Rear Admiral Cano. Larry's mouth opened in shock, but as he was about to point out the man, he disappeared.

"Ya alright there buddy?" Fox asked while leaning on his rifle, "You're about as white as a sheet."

"In fact," Tex said grinning, "I'd have said you had seen a ghost!"

Blinking Larry looked down at the two, "I'm fine. Just ready to get out of this ship."

"I hear ya there buddy!" Fox said as he slung the rifle around to his shoulder, "When do we leave?"

Allied was talking with Assim and Outlaw and both seemed to be in a heated argument with each other. The other girl whom Nikita had named as Section was sitting off to the side, tapping keys and buttons on…a large white thing…

Motioning to his two friends and surviving squad mates, Larry moved in to hear the argument between Assim and Outlaw.

"…and I still say we can't trust him!" Assim was saying.

"Sir! I'll have you know that I have offered my services to you for no cost. I have laid myself bare before you and _this_ is how you repay me? I will not have it, sir, I will not!" Outlaw growled back at Assim.

"You have laid yourself bare huh? I say that's horseshit. You're up to something, merc and I want to know who paid you off!"

"No one. My last employer ended services with me after I left Halo. Don't believe me? Ask your High Command, they were there."

Assim seemed to get even more enraged at that, "That's what you wanted them to see! Why were you on Halo in the first place?"

Outlaw smiled and twisted his moustache around his finger, "Still angry about that are you? Face it, _ambassador,_ I beat you fair and square. Get over it."

Assim snarled, "That's _not_ what this about! Why were you…?"

"Enough," Allied said. He did not shout or raise his voice, but both stopped and looked at their commander, "I will not have my team ripped apart because they were on different sides a few days ago. If that were the case, then this already tattered clan would not exist and the Index may have already been used to activate Halo. You two _will_ learn how to get along, or else I'll maroon both of you on the nearest moon I can find."

Assim's face darkened and Outlaw clearly thought that Allied had just made a clever joke, until he saw Allied's face.

"Alright people, for those of you who don't know me, I am Fleet Captain Allied. We are the largest group because our mission is the most dangerous. We have to approach the most cunning of enemies on this side of the galaxy in order to cut a deal with them. I have a list, and only the Hutts can furbish this equipment. We must not appear to be any more then what we are: travelers who need the services of the Hutts. This equipment will not be cheap either, so any complications here will only injure our cause. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Larry said.

"I reckon' so," Fox drawled.

"Yes, sir," Tex said smiling.

Section nodded softly.

"Very well," Assim said grudgingly.

"You are most correct to advise caution," Outlaw said.

"Good. Let's get down there then," Allied said.

The team shuffled for the door, but Larry glanced back over his shoulder toward the door that lead to the Captain's room. It was empty.

* * *

SeeD Candidate Emma Varch frowned at the mess of the street distastefully. Her partner was a short and strong man with dark skin who was bent over a dumpster.

"I told you not to drink anything here!" She said angrily, and he raised his head in what may have been an attempt to reply, but he buried his head back into the bowels of the trash can.

Rolling her eyes, Emma leaned against the wall of the alley way and read some of the graffiti. Most of it was in an alien tongue, and but even she was unable to make out the untidy scrawl.

Emma was a linguist by nature, and had applied to SeeD hoping to gain a job in that would involve travel. She had not expected to be drawn into the manhunt for the men that had escaped the Headmaster, but she should have realized that her skills were necessary.

"I thought you said it was safe to drink _that_!" Jake said, groaning.

"I didn't say any such thing! It was green and bubbling, clearly poisonous to humans. Those rodians are probably laughing themselves back into a more cheery mood now."

The strong-arm heaved himself up. He had sunken eyes and a broken nose, but he clearly looked in no condition to hit anyone out. His name was Jake Cipriani, and he had arrived at Garden in an ambulance after a bar brawl in Balamb, and had never left.

"Ugh," He groaned as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "I've had some bad drinks in the past, but _that_ was the worst."

Rolling her eyes, Emma helped the larger man up, "Let's head back to our hotel," she said, slight disgust tinged her voice on the word 'hotel.'

Laughing, Jake caught her mood, "You mean our little hole in the wall that has a door over the entrance? Yeah, let's head back there. I doubt the Headmaster's quarry would plan on showing up here…"

The two walked nearer the mouth of the alley until the throng of alien life that walked up and down the crowded streets of the Corellain district came into view. Turning to the left, Emma readied a spell strong enough to render anyone who took them as easy prey unconscious in a moment. They passed several bars and shops before coming to the district's spaceport. Numerous ships were docked and most of those ships were freighters and other ships of transport.

Their small apartment sat in a wide alley just off of the spaceport, and they walked into it as two hired thugs watched them menacingly. One was a Talaxian while the other was an Unas. The Unas was glairing at everyone through its thickly armored eyes. The Talaxian let the two SeeD candidates pass without any problem.

The alleyway was lined with doors that reminded Emma of storage compartments that she had seen elsewhere, but here they were used by refugees and other miserable folk to live in. She pulled her larger partner through the rusty doors that marked their storage compartment and set him down on the two cots in the room.

"Sleep it off," she growled, "I'm going to get some air, and keep an eye out for people at the pubs, alright?"

His only response was a loud groan and she slammed the door behind her, hoping that it didn't help his headache.

* * *

Larry brushed his lightsaber under his old drab olive green uniform with his fingers. This whole place made him feel uncomfortable, especially since he was beginning to pick up the moods of places through the Force, and he did not like it.

"Where is this contact that you know?" Allied asked as he touched the hilt of his gunblade.

"He's in the Corellian sector, in the Meltdown Café'," Outlaw said as he threw his cape around his shoulders. They had managed to land the shuttle on a rickety landing platform after bribing the owner of the platform with gold scraped off of the gilded halls of _The Pride of Clan Hunter_. Sometimes the tacky interior decorating of the Goa'uld warlords came into use.

Assim was scowling at Allied, because Allied had ordered that all obvious guns of extreme firepower (namely Assim's mini-gun) be left behind, on account that they would really make them obvious to anyone who was looking for Clan Hunters members. As a replacement, he was carrying a pair of pistols similar to the two Desert Eagles that Outlaw carried. Perhaps that grated him even more then having to leave behind his large weapon in the first place.

Tex and Fox both came out of the shuttle then, and Fox was waving his hat around in front of his face trying to waft away the smell that was everywhere on Nar Shaddaa. Tex was glairing over Fox's shoulder into the crowded throng as though looking for danger already. She wore the camouflaged outfit that Larry had seen on her the first day they had met, but something about her body language was different now.

Considering her for a moment, Larry returned his attention to Allied and Assim, "Sir, we need to get out of here," Larry said, "We're wasting time."

Allied blinked as though that had not occurred to him and he spun on Outlaw, "Well don't just stand there, man! Let's get going."

Outlaw huffed through his moustache, but he spun on his heel and led the Clan Hunters through the throng of aliens and humans. The Clan Hunters formed a tight box around Allied with Assim watching Outlaw and Tex and Larry to either side while Fox took up the rear, his rifle not attracting many looks. Section was busy walking along next to Allied and occasionally looking down at the big white plastic rod that she was carrying.

"What is that?" Larry asked her as Outlaw paused at an intersection between two ramps and the main road that they were traveling down.

She looked up, "This? This is my MUT. Think of it as a computer that's made for the single purpose of hacking into a computer."

Larry stared at the thing with a little more respect, "So I take it you're decent at hacking into any computer system then?"

She nodded, "I managed to pick up some skills in that area. The High Command thought I'd be helpful because I can detect security systems too and disarm them if they pose any threat. That kind of thing. I can do a lot more though."

The group started off again and Allied muttered something to Section, who began fiddling furiously with her MUT.

Larry turned away from her and began to cast out around him with the Force, attempting to find an overall mood for the people that surrounded him here. Larry almost choked on the overwhelming emotions that surrounded him.

Fear. Hate. Suspicion. Rage…it was overwhelming.

All around them were either tall buildings or severe drop offs into the lower regions of the moon. The movement of ships and speeders overhead and between the buildings gave a sort of breeze that reminded Larry of a highway's unsettling wind.

A shrill scream vibrated through the air over the sound of the passing vehicles as a woman's body flew by the walkway. It happened so fast that no one could do anything to help her before she passed out of sight on her way into the depths of the moon.

Suppressing a shiver, Larry watched the crowd as they took almost no notice of the incident and passed on as though it were usual to see people fall to their deaths. Outlaw turned a corner into an alley that was covered with something sticky on the floor. Suppressing a groan, Larry saw the entrance to the Meltdown café near the end of the tunnel.

The façade was rusting away, and the only way anyone could have told that it was a pub was because of the hand painted sign that was fastened over the door and lit up by an eerie yellow light.

"I wonder what they got to drink in there," Fox muttered.

"I wouldn't advise it," Outlaw said looking back at him over his shoulder, "Not unless you brought your own glass."

Fox smiled, "That's just like home."

Allied turned to Section and the squad spread out a little bit. The alley was less crowded then the street.

"What's the security here?" he asked in a low voice.

Section peered into her MUT for a few moments before answering, "Surveillance inside the bar and automatic turrets stationed behind the bar, and on each of the corners of the room, allowing for a full field of fire. The turrets are set to stun, most likely to break up bar fights…" she frowned, "This is strange…there's an odd energy reading here..." she tapped her screen, "It's under the building, deep. An explosive that could take out this whole sector," she said and glanced up at Allied.

"That shouldn't be there," Allied murmured, "The Hutts wouldn't have put it in, since it would destroy a lot of their money making ability here. Do the owners know about this," Allied asked Outlaw.

Outlaw blinked and straightened as Allied looked at him, "I wouldn't think so, sir. But even if they do, they wouldn't tell me…"

Allied pushed forward and everyone had to quicken their pace to keep up. A large Hork-Bajir was standing at nearly eight feet with a long serpentine neck and a beak sprouting from it's green skinned face. The creature peered down at them with beady eyes and flicked his blade-covered arms and legs at them.

With a flick of its long neck, it allowed them in.

"You make no trouble, me no have to hurt you. Understand?" It said thickly as Allied was about to walk into the bar.

Allied turned and looked up into the intent gaze of the Hork-Baijir, "I won't go looking for trouble, if that's what you mean."

The creature blinked in confusion, but before he could open his mouth to question Allied, he had stepped into the bar with his squad behind him.

The first thing that Larry thought about when he stepped into the bar was that it was a dirty place that had almost no lightening. The smell of tobacco and other vile things stained the air, as though they would never leave it.

Outlaw lead his companions to a table to the right of the door in a corner, facing the bar and the entrance so that the Clan Hunters were watching both at the same time. After a few minutes a small female squib with ruffled fur and a missing ear said in a high pitched voice, "Hiya buddy-buddy, you want drink to wet down dry mouth?"

Fox opened his mouth from his seat on the far end of the table, but Outlaw forestalled him, "No Dena, I'm here to see Vogga. Is he around?"

The squib's other ear flattened against her head as she studied Outlaw for a moment, "Oh, It's you!" she squeaked, "Vogga is here, but he been bad-mad, you bet. You go in there, you be toasty-crispy when you comin' out."

"We're willing to take that chance," Allied said.

Dena gave Allied a flat stare, "Okay-dokie. Vogga gonna' eat you for lunchy, you bet."

She walked off, leaving the Clan Hunters to stew in their own thoughts. It took a while, almost fifteen game minutes by Larry's PDA timer, but she came back out escorted by one very dangerous looking klingon.

"Only two of you see him," The klingon growled, "And you two go in unarmed."

Allied stood up and motioned to Outlaw, "You know him, so you'll take me too him," Allied leaned close and muttered something into the flamboyant man's ear, and Outlaw went slightly pale.

Allied surrendered his gunblade and several throwing knives out of his pockets and boots and set them on the table next to Outlaw's Desert Eagle combo.

"We'll be back," Allied said and he walked off.

After a moment, Fox said, "Well I reckon' that since we're gonna have to wait a while, I'll order myself something to drink."

Tex shook her head, "Don't drink too much. We may need you to be sober. I count two different gangs in here and one clan of gamers. I hope that they have no interest in the Clan Hunters…"

Assim shook his head, "If they didn't make for Halo when the message went out then I doubt they have any interest in…what we're carrying."

Fox finally got the attention of Dena again, and he offered a canteen, "Fill that up with whatever ya got to around drink here."

"You bet," the squib said and walked off.

"How long do you think this is going to take?" Larry asked.

Tex shrugged, "I don't know, but I wish we could hear what was going on in there."

Section spoke up then, "Got it. Everyone lean in close so that no one overhears this."

That was when Larry suddenly noticed that soft voices were coming from Section's MUT. Leaning closer, Larry realized that they were the voices of Allied and one very deep voice that was in a language that he didn't recognize.

Able to catch only words and phrases, Larry figured that the Hutt was willing to deal with the Rear Admiral for the Clan Hunters, provided that they were able to pay the appropriate fees. Then Allied seemed to be haggling with the Hutt, hoping to drive down the price of the parts that were needed for the _Pride of Clan Hunters_.

Larry glanced up, and was surprised to see a young woman staring at them. When she saw Larry looking, she quickly went to the bar and placed an order, never looking directly back at the Clan Hunters. Rather, she began talking to a very tall man next to her on the bar who had a large quarterstaff type weapon next to him.

Leaning over to nudge Tex he whispered, "I think someone has taken notice of us."

She nodded, "I saw it too. We should get out of here as soon as possible."

Fox leaned in and glanced over his shoulder toward the woman, "Whatcha talkin' about?"

"Look at her outfit," Assim murmured, "It has the insignia of a SeeD candidate on it."

"You can see that?" Larry asked in surprise.

Assim tapped his eye, "Borg implants, remember?"

That was when a large muscular man with an unsteady gate stumbled in though the door. He looked a shade of green and cast his eyes frantically around the room. Seeing the girl at the bar, he hurried over to her nearly knocking over several tables of patrons and upset two drinks into the laps of their owners. The man ignored their curses and hisses and stood next to the woman.

"This can't be good," Larry said as he eyed the newcomer.

"What do SeeDs gotta be chasin' us for?" Fox asked, "We didn't do nothing'."

Larry shrugged, "That's beside the point. We need to get off this planet as soon as possible. Section, can you contact the other Clan Hunter teams? I'm sure Nikita and the other High Command will want to know about this…"

That was when the big man stumbled over to them with the woman pulling at his sleeve as though trying to pull him away, but he pulled her along as though he did not notice her resistance. Finally she gave in and smiled at the Clan Hunters as he opened his mouth, "Hiya. My name is Jake. You mind if I have a seat here?"

Before anyone could reply, though, he sat down in a vacant chair next to Fox. The woman hesitated before taking a seat across from her partner which placed her next to Larry.

"We're travelers," the big man slurred, "And we know that you're not from Nar Shaddaa. We like to know where other people have been and have come from and that like. Where have you come from?"

Larry couldn't think of anything to reply to that, but was saved by the Ambassador, Assim.

"We come and go as we please, stranger. Never staying in one place for long though, I'm afraid. What about you? Where do you come from?"

"We're from the Fourth Imperia, at least, that's where we started," the woman spoke up, "But since we've ended up here."

No one made any reply then, and the silence stretched into long uncomfortable minutes, broken only by the sounds of Section's typing on her MUT.

Finally, the big man leaned over the table, "Listen," he growled, "We know who you are. You are going to come with us because we want to talk with you somewhere other then here. Someone who we know would like to talk with you very much."

Larry felt Tex tense next to him, and that was when a tug in the Force made him look up. Standing in the door were about six other men and women dressed in the blue uniform of the SeeD candidate and lead by a man in a long tan trench coat with a cowboy hat on his long red hair. At that moment, Allied and Outlaw were coming out of the back room after meeting with Vogga. Allied's eyes widened at the two new people seated at the Clan Hunters' table and his eyes snapped to the door. They met the startled gaze of the cowboy, and everything seemed to slow.

Allied raised his palm toward the man in the trench coat at the same time that the cowboy raised a shotgun toward Allied from across the bar. Fire shot out of the tips of Allied's fingers and lead poured out of the muzzle of the cowboy's rifle.

The fire from Allied's spell erupted around the SeeDs, but did not touch them. The lead from the shot that was fired seemed to stop in front of Allied, and the shot fell to the ground.

Larry snatched his lightsaber from his belt and ignited the blade at the same time that Tex rolled backwards off of her chair and that Assim flipped the table overtop of the SeeD candidate who called himself Jared.

"They must have delayed us until backup could arrive," Larry shouted as the rest of the room began to disintegrate.

"No kidding! Thanks for figuring that one out, Sherlock!" Assim said sarcastically as he began swinging the table around the room easily.

Tex picked up Allied's gunblade from the floor and tossed it to their commander from across the room. It landed at Allied's feet and he bent to pick up the slim weapon with one hand. Fox picked up Outlaw's Desert Eagles and tossed those to Outlaw as well.

The other SeeD candidates had begun spreading out then, using overturned tables as cover and producing an assortment of weapons. Larry counted two with swords, three with guns of some kind, and a third dark-haired girl that was swinging around something that reminded Larry of nun-chucks.

The other patrons in the bar began producing their own weapons: sonic weapons, phasers, pepper spray, blasters, vibroblades, swords, knives, shock-lances, and one of the clan members carried what looked to be an elephant gun with its muzzle spread wide. The big man that the female SeeD candidate had tried to speak with earlier was using his giant metal quarterstaff now, swirling it around and cracking open skulls and knocking anyone who was in his way unconscious. A dark smoke was leaking from the ends of his staff, and it lingered around the tall man like some kind of smoke bomb, making it difficult for Larry to make out the man's features.

Tex was carving a path towards Allied with quick thrusts and powerful overhand blows, never bothering to parry an attack unless she had no other option. Assim was following behind her, swinging what was left of his table into the heads and bodies of the brawl.

Fox had taken cover behind the bar and was popping up to take well aimed shots at the SeeD candidates that were still covered by the door, forcing them to keep their heads down.

Larry cut through the arm of an attacking human, one of the clan members Larry figured, when an enormous fist nailed him in the jaw. The next thing Larry realized was that he was sitting on the ground with his vision swimming in front of him. His lightsaber was still in hand, but all of Larry's concentration was gone.

Looking up, Larry saw that it was Jared the drunk SeeD candidate that had stuck him. Getting up slowly, Larry let his mind go out to the Force and began to react to the urgings that he felt from his subconscious. In an instant, Jared was on top of Larry again thrashing and punching into his body. Larry dodged each attack only to find another one waiting for him. Trying to gain a little distance, Larry back flipped over an overturned table and struck out with his purple blade in a strike aimed at the large man's Adam's apple. With supernatural grace, the big man managed to dodge Larry's strike and landed a powerful uppercut on Larry's wrist. The shock forced Larry to drop his weapon and gape as another hammer-sized fist came for his face.

Again, Larry found himself on the ground. Eyes rolling around in his head, he tried to stand but could only make it to his knees. Looking up at the big man, Larry braced for another blow. Jared grinned down at him and pulled back his other fist for a finishing blow when a hollow _clunk_ sounded from behind him. Jared's grin became a look of confusion and then he turned only to receive another blow to the face from the tall man's quarterstaff. Jared dropped to the floor.

"Th..thanks." Larry managed to the tall man.

"Don't mention it," the big man said tossing Larry's lightsaber over to him, "For a Jedi, you need work," he motioned behind Larry.

Behind Larry sat the female SeeD candidate with the nun-chucks. She sat up against the wall with her throat cut. Her nun-chucks were on the ground just behind where Larry was sitting.

"We should get out of here," the tall man said.

Larry considered for a moment as the tall man ducked to avoid a blaster bolt, "Sure."

The leader of the SeeDs was using his forearm to steady his aim as he fired a shot at the last remaining member of the clan that were inside of the bar. He went down with a cry of, "Ohhh! I just got this account too!" before his body convulsed and he lay still.

Fox's head came up from behind the bar and he fired a shot at the tall man. Sensing it, he sidestepped and the shot flew past him and into a SeeD behind him.

"Yeah! Take that!" Fox cried.

The SeeD who took the bullet groaned and sent a powerful fire spell into the bar, causing the alcohol there to burst into flames.

Tex finished off the wounded SeeD by placing her sword into his ribs. The SeeD leader spun as and tried to fire a shot just as Tex removed her sword from the SeeD candidate, but he froze when Allied's gunblade came across of the man's throat.

"Too slow Irvine," Allied said cooly, "Drop it."

Larry deflected a shot from another entrenched SeeD and then cut through the sword of a very surprised looking SeeD candidate. Drawing on the Force, Larry mustered all of his strength and flung out his palm into the face of the SeeD candidate. He flew backwards across the room and hit the other SeeD that was hiding behind a table. Both slammed into the far wall and were still.

At this point, the chaos had died down so that the only people who were standing were the Clan Hunters, the tall man who had helped Larry, and the man named Irvine. Assim was holding the girl who had been with Jared by the back of her neck and forcing her to stand upright. When the girl saw that Irvine was captured and without his rifle, she began to splutter, "I…I'm s…sorry, sir. I tr..tried to contact you as soon as possible.."

Irvine motioned her to be quiet, and she cut off with a sharp click of her teeth snapping shut.

"Out into the street," Allied said coldly, "MOVE!"

Fox came out from around the bar, from which fire was spreading even faster. He picked up his canteen that had been discarded during the fighting and filled it up with one of the unbroken bottles that littered the floor. After a sip, he nodded his head in approval and stuck the canteen on his hip.

"Where's Outlaw?" Section asked as she handed the throwing knives that Allied had forgotten to her commander. She had picked them up as a last minute weapon and had succeeded in throwing one at one of the SeeD candidates when he tried to shoot at her. The blade bounced off of his face after hitting handle first, but the distraction had been enough for Fox to put a bullet through the man's forehead.

Larry looked around. The flamboyant man was no where to be seen, "I can't sense him either," Larry said after trying.

The whole group moved into the street then with Allied pushing Irvine ahead of him. Smoke began to billow out of the bar behind them, "A fitting name," Irvine said as he nodded his head toward the sign that read, 'Meltdown café.'

Allied shook the man in a command to keep silent, "Why do you keep following us?" he demanded.

Irvine looked up to the sky that was slightly obscured by the grimy sides of the alley wall, "Because we were paid to, traitor." Allied shook the man a little harder, gagging him.

"By who?"

Irvine grinned, "You know I can't tell you that."

Allied roared with rage and rammed the head of the SeeD commander into the side of the wall, and he crumpled into a heap.

Section cleared her throat, "I just got a message from Nikita on the _Pride_. Vogga has delivered the supplies we need and we've been ordered to return to the ship."

Allied spun around and had to look up to stare into the eyes of the tall man with the staff. The smoke that had surrounded the tall man earlier were gone now and he was just a towering giant.

"Who's this?" Allied asked after a few deep breaths.

"My name is Beyond," The tall man said as he pulled a flask off of his side and sipped out of it, "I was in the bar. Is your clan looking to recruit? I haven't seen that much action since I went on an infiltration mission in a borg cube."

Assim shifted at the mention of the borg, but he said, "James did say we were looking for new members."

Allied nodded, "Alright. Sure, but we'll need to ask you some questions before you are allowed to stay. Nothing serious, just typical procedure."

"We should get going," Tex said softly. She had cleaned her blade, but was looking at the alley entrance, "Either SeeDs or the authorities will come and find us. I don't want either."

Allied agreed and the group marched off with the captured SeeD linguist in tow.

* * *

John sat upright in his chair and stared into the screen intently. It couldn't be. He zoomed in on the figure who was leading the procession and he sat back with a laugh.

"_Ta'veren." _He laughed and stood up.

Walking over to where his own original device sat, he quickly plugged himself into the World of Dreams and entered certain override codes from his neural feeds.

* * *

The Clan Hunters walked out onto the bridge that connected the landing pad that held the Clan Hunter's SEC shuttle to one of the main streets in the Corellian district. Allied suddenly stopped and when he spun to face the rest of the Clan Hunters, all the blood had drained from it.

"No…" he whispered. He grabbed Larry by the shoulders and said, "Listen to me, you have to stop him. It won't be easy but there is a way. There's not much time. You're _Ta'veren_, I've felt it since I saw you at the battle on Halo. You can stop him, but not alone."

"Stop who?" Larry asked. The other Clan Hunters were beginning to look concerned at their commander going mad.

"No time. You'll know soon enough. You need to gather together other _Ta'veren_ from the other worlds here inside of DreamLand. You need the Hero of Time, the Boy who Lived, the King of Gondor, the Son of Big Boss, the Hero of Chaos, the Dragon, and the High Summoner. Only then can you overwhelm him! But be careful. When you take those _Ta'veren_ away from where they belong, their worlds will begin to fall under the sway of a darker balance inside of those worlds, and DreamLand will become more dangerous then you can possibly imagine. But the alternative is worse! Much worse!"

"You're not making any sense!" Tex said.

"How do you know this?" Section asked, "Only a system admin would be able to know that."

Allied gave her a smile, "That's because I made DreamLand to begin with. But I did not know the costs that making this place would take on my mind."

Larry stared, "That makes no sense! John Call…"

"I can't explain!" Allied said, "Remember! Hero of Time, Boy who Lived, King of Gondor, Son of Big Boss, Hero of Chaos, the Dragon, and High Summoner. Now GO!" Allied shoved a stunned Larry toward the shuttle.

"Come with us," Section said, "We can run from whoever's chasing…"

"No, you can't!" Allied shouted, "He's after me; you're in danger so long as you're with me."

Larry and the rest of the Clan Hunters had to scramble inside of the shuttle quickly. The shuttle hovered off of the pad for a moment, and Allied stood in the middle of pad and turned back the way he had come, with his gunblade drawn. With one last hesitant glance, the shuttle turned and flew up into the sky.

* * *

John Call walked down the ramp toward the end of the landing pad and watched as the shuttle's engines faded off into darkness.

"Touching," John sneered, "Very noble of you."

Allied looked at the man sadly, "You knew what noble meant, once upon a time."

"It'll never work," John said, "Even if they do manage to even convince those _Ta'veren_ to join him, the World of Dreams will become too dangerous to travel anywhere. Much less execute that command."

Allied smiled, "You never were an optimist."

"That's your job."

"It was yours once," Allied shot back.

"You were a fool."

"You still are."

John's face darkened and he began to concentrate on the figure in front of him. It took more effort, considering who the man was who he was about to do this too.

Allied's screams went on for nearly five minutes before it cut off abruptly, and then John walked over and picked up what was left of the head and stared into a face that was his own.

Cursing, John pitched the head over the side of Nar Shaddaa's landing pad and exited the World of Dreams.


	17. Chapter 16: Reinforcements

_Author's note: I just want to make a few quick thank you's to the readers who have been along for the ride. I would like to thank Fox, Tex, Assim, Leo, Section, and all the rest of the Clan Hunters in giving me the inspiration to write this story in the first place. Also I would like to thank Terror of Zanarkand and Bonnimom for their insightful reviews and general interest in my writing._

_Also, please not that I changed, "High Jedi" to "High Summoner" in the last chapter for the sake of variety. _

_Finally, without further ado, my disclaimer._

I do not own anything in this novel except for John Call and the concept of DreamLand in and of itself. If I owned even a part of the DreamLand universe, I wouldn't be writing about it here.

Allied

Chapter 16: Reinforcements

The SEC shuttle docked back onto the _Pride_ without incident and standing to greet them stood a very crisp Nikita. She instantly noticed the new addition of the tall man and the SeeD captive. All she had to do was look at the next ranking officer, who was Assim.

"Allied's stayed behind and ordered us to come back here," Assim explained, "This is a captive from a SeeD hunting party that has been searching for the Clan Hunters since we left Halo," Assim said as he shook the woman he was carrying by the back of her neck, "And this guy," Assim said point up to the huge head of Beyond, "Is a new recruit. Helped us get away from the SeeDs."

Then Larry noticed the activity going on inside of the hanger of the ship. There were a lot more men and women that were wondering around the _Pride_'s expansive hanger. More transport ships were around too along with four small fighters and along one wall, about five tanks were squeezed in on one another. The Lt. Commander named Fate was looking at a bunch of new faces and talking with them, occasionally gesturing off to the tanks.

He wasn't the only person to have noticed the change, "What's going on?" Tex asked.

Nikita motioned for the entire crew to follow her, "I'll explain everything once we get somewhere less public," she noticed the captured SeeD and narrowed her eyes, "Who is this?" she asked.

"A captured SeeD," Assim said innocently.

Nikita frowned but her manner promised that they would have to explain this later. She called to two of the Clan Hunters members, Larry realized that one was Rouge, the scout sniper that had been on base since the beginning, and the other was a dark haired man who Nikita addressed as Starwolf.

Then Nikita lead the way past the new recruits and up a lift into the command room where the two other members of High Command sat. Standing next to them was a broad shouldered man who had black body armor and weapons vest strapped over his barrel like chest. His hair was red and he spoke with a force of command that was only emphasized in his strong Scottish accent. He was holding a weapon that Larry knew to be the MA5B Assault Rifle used in the Halo Universe.

"Colonel Gregory, this is our last away team that was on Nar Shaddaa. We are about to debrief them."

The Colonel set down a heavy black helmet on the corner of the High Command's table, "Well that do be good news. The sooner we do be away from this cess-pit, the better!"

Gregory sat down on a fourth chair behind the High Command table, which startled the remaining members of Allied's team.

"As ye can see, I do be a member of the Clan Hunter's High Command, part of the condition of my joining the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers clan to this Clan," Gregory said to their shocked faces.

"While you were out," Nikita said taking a seat on the other side of the table from Gregory, "There have been some changes."

"And there will be more to come," James said as he entered the room from behind the returned team.

Bobby entered behind him and the full table of four members of the High Command stood facing the remaining members of Allied's patrol.

"First, begin by telling us your report on what happened when you made contact with Vogga the Hutt and explain why Allied and Outlaw are both missing," Bobby ordered as he shuffled into his seat, a bit taller then the rest of the High Command.

After a lengthy explanation with a few occasional comments given in by Tex and the tall Beyond who stood even taller then Bobby, Assim filled in the High Command on the new developments on the Sumggler's Moon.

"That makes no sense," Nikita said, "Who was after him?"

The squad exchanged glances, "We don't know, ma'am," Assim answered.

The big man that was a newcomer to the High Command stroked his bare chin, "Do ya think that he might ha' lost his nerve?"

James glanced sideways at the new member, "I doubt it, Gregory. Allied was one of our best commanders, which is why we agreed that he would be in charge of this operation."

Gregory nodded accepting that," If ya say so, James, if ya say so."

"Can you make any sense out of it?

Nikita shook her head so that the golden hair waved around her, "I don't know, but I don't think Allied had lost his head. When I saw that he wasn't here I tried to get someone in contact him, but we've had no luck so far."

Section came forward just then, "Ma'am, if I can, I think I have an explanation."

Nikita looked at Section and said, "Well if you have one, then give it."

Section nodded before saying, "As you know DreamLand is nothing more then a highly advanced computer. Allied claimed that he helped make DreamLand, and if that is true, then he must have some idea about some of the nuts and bolts of the programming for this world.

"What he told us to do may be part of a fail-safe program designed to override an administrator should that situation arise. No such program has ever been reported to exist though, but that does not mean that it doesn't.

"Anyway, what I mean is that if we do gather all of these programs that act as _Ta'veren_ together under the control of our single _Ta'everen,_ then we might find ourselves in the middle of a programming storm that unlocks major components of the DreamLand servers, making whoever's in control of it like an administrator."

Bobby frowned, "Why would anyone ever put that into their system? It's just asking for someone to take over DreamLand."

Section considered, "It's not that easy," she said, "By taking these programs out of their elements the balance that is maintained in those worlds is thrown off. For example if we took Luke Skywalker out of this galaxy," she motioned with her hands around the gilded hallways indicating the galaxy around them, "Then it's safe to say that the outcomes that we all know about would change. The same is true of all of those other people that Allied mentioned, so the balance of DreamLand would be thrown off in favor of the darker and more evil programs that reside here."

It took a few seconds for everyone to have that sink in, "So what you're saying is that even if we _did_ manage to collect all of these _Ta'veren_, the entire DreamLand universe would become extremely dangerous?" Larry said slowly.

Section nodded, "But I don't know if that is accurate. Maybe if we gather in some of these extra _Ta'veren_, then we will be able to actually find a better answer."

Fox said, "That's all very nice, but I'd really like ta know what's going on with all of these new guys hanging around our ship."

Nikita nodded, "Very well. James? Why don't you explain it since it was you who discovered ODST."

James nodded, "If you recall, I went down with Fury to recruit new members for the Clan Hunters. While recruiting new members, I ran into the leader of a clan named ODST, or Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. That's a reference to Halo, by the way.

"They had heard that we were the clan that had possession of the Index, and since they enjoyed adventure more then sitting around Nar Shaddaa trying to catch petty criminals, they asked if they could join us. There were several conditions of course, but our funds, our flags, and our forces have merged together," James explained.

"Aye," Gregory nodded, "And we do be one of the most well trained clans in DreamLand. Those members who have na' reported in will be told about the new arrangement."

"How many people were in the ODSTs? And what equipment did you have?" Tex asked.

"We did ha' about two hundred clan members, at last count. We have all of the same equipment and matchin' uniforms. We also ha' a ship that was named the _Pillar of Spring, _and several armor units," Gregory said as he rolled his eyes back into head clearly thinking.

"And I recruited an additional fifty-three newcomers to the World of Dreams," James said quickly as though not to be outdone by the Scotsman, "It seems that the devices are selling even faster now. So many people were on Nar Shaddaa as it was."

"Which reminds me," Nikita said, "The ODSTs have had a standard for their uniforms and equipment. Sort of a tribute to _Halo_, and I wanted to let you know that we have our own uniforms now, they're on your bunks."

She stood up, "And now, if you'll excuse us, we have things we need to talk about concerning these new developments. Beyond, welcome to the Clan Hunters. I'm afraid we'll need to make a uniform just for you."

Larry stepped forward suddenly and slammed his open palm down on the table, "What do you mean you have important things to discuss? What about Allied? Shouldn't we be sending someone to go look for him?"

Nikita regarded him calmly and James' face darkened, but it was Gregory who spoke, "Lad, I know that you do be missing your comrade, but if we could na' reach him then he do be dead, with his account deleted."

Nikita nodded, "Yes, and that's one of the things we need to talk about."

"Then shouldn't we be looking for his killers?" Larry asked harshly, "Every moment we wait the further away they get!"

"And just what should we do if we were to catch them?" Nikita asked coldly, "Allied said that whoever was after him would be stopped at what? _Seven_ _Ta'veren_? Plus yourself. Just what is a pair of medium-class cruisers and a medium sized clan supposed to do against a power like that?"

Larry's mouth worked, and he sighed, "Maybe we'll find Allied under another account, right? Then we'll be able to ask him what he meant more."

Nikita nodded, "That's possible."

James scowled, "I really doubt that," he said flatly, "This universe is too large to find a single person."

Section spoke up again, "So we even the odds. We make for these seven _Ta'veren_ and try and find him near them. That's where he'll be going, right?"

Gregory nodded agreement, and so did Bobby, "That could work…"

Nikita nodded curtly, "Very good, now you are all dismissed. We will reach a decision on whether or not to pursue this course of action."

Larry opened his mouth, but decided to not say anything after the look he got from all of the High Command members. Turning around, Larry stalked out of the room after the rest of the team.

* * *

The shadows around the _Pride_ were familiar to her now. She slipped past two of the new arrivals as they made their way down the hallways toward the _Pride_'s mess hall.

Waiting for her charge to come out, she remembered how she had nearly been discovered while traveling on the cramped SEC shuttle, having to slip past the door guards at the Meltdown café, and how she had slit the SeeD's throat that had tried to kill her charge.

Coming back to the present, she watched as the door to the room that the High Command used slide open and saw Larry come stomping out of the room.

"Herrod!" a woman who wore a sword called after him. He slowed and spun around to face her.

"Yes?" he asked testily.

"You shouldn't go around shooting your mouth off like that. It's unbecoming of a Jedi," the woman said.

Larry scowled down at her, "I'm not really a Jedi, you know? I just happen to have the attributes of a Force user, not really that of a Jedi."

The woman tossed her head, "That's not my point. Something is funny about this whole thing. It doesn't make any sense! We need you to keep your head, or else everything will fall apart. Do you understand me?"

Larry frowned for a moment, but he nodded slowly.

"Good," the woman said, "Then I trust I won't have to correct you in the future?"

Before Larry could reply, she took off, striding down the corridor in the direction of her room.

Staring after her, Larry threw up his hands.

"What was _that_ all about?" Fox asked, his drawl sounding interested.

Larry shrugged, "I don't know. Can you explain women?"

Fox laughed, "Hey, did I ever tell ya' that I have two girlfriends?"

Larry looked up interested, "No, but go on…"

The two moved down the corridor after the woman and the shadowy figure rolled her eyes, _Men!_ She thought, _always thinking about one thing…_

Careful that no one was around in either the hallway or coming out of the doors, she slipped down the corridor after them.

* * *

Beyond shook his head in amusement at the way his new allies argued amongst themselves. He was also thankful that the Goa'uld had a mind to put vaulted ceilings in all of their ships. The _Pride_'s ceilings did not force him to stoop like they usually did.

He walked down the hallways using his staff as a walking stick, and it made a hallow _clang _with each step. Weary now of his travels, he decided to find his own cabin. Knowing that it was doubtful that he had been supplied with one so quickly, he moved with sure steps in the direction of the crew's quarters.

Members of the Clan Hunters moved with purpose around Beyond, some gawking at his height, while others only gave the slight widening of their eyes before moving past him. He reached a lift to the lower decks of the _Pride_ just as the doors were beginning to close. Reaching his hand out, he stopped the doors from closing and strode in.

All around him were men and women that were clearly coming off duty. Some looked tired while others were alert enough to realize that he was a newcomer.

One of them, a man in a white lab coat, asked, "Do you know where you are going?"

"To the crew's quarters, I need some sleep."

"Do you have a bunk?" the man asked as the lift's doors closed and it began to descend with a loud _hum_.

Beyond shrugged his shoulders, a gesture that the man did not see because it was so high above his head. Finally after a few moments of silence, Beyond said, "Not that I know of."

"Alright, I'll see that you get setup somewhere then."

Nodding his gratitude he asked, "What is your name?"

Smiling, the white-coated man said, "My name is the Doc. I run the infirmary here onboard the _Pride._ If you need anything of a medical nature, please let me know."

Beyond mused softly to himself that he _did_ need something of a medical nature, but he doubted that this man had a cure for what he had.

Finally making his way into an open barracks that was stacked with cots all over the floor, Beyond noticed that half the bunks were full of motionless bodies. Their owners having left DreamLand for now.

Sinking down on to the cot that the Doc had assigned him, he set his staff next to the bed and pulled out a silvery flask. Drinking deeply, he carefully placed the lid back on the flask's head and began to doze off.

The dreams that Beyond had were all too familiar to him now, and he watched the scenes unfold with no more of the terror and nausea that had woken him years before.

_She spoke softly so that only he could hear her. The other one, the Icemage, was watching near the entrance of the hanger for signs of danger, but he was casting an eye over his shoulder every few seconds._

_"We can help you with the best doctors this world has to offer. We can offer you so much…if only you would join us," she was saying. _

_Leaning on his staff, he peered down at her a look of absolute indifference in his eyes, "I doubt that you can offer me anything. You cannot help me, because you cannot help yourself. There must be a way out of this world, and I intend to find it." _

_"What if you fail? How long can you keep up this search before it overcomes you? Do you really think that anyone else will care or be able to understand you? Why not be with the people who you knew and who have been through the same thing as you?" _

_Sighing, he straightened and shifted his weight to the heels of his feet. _

_"I am beyond hope. I can only walk my own path. That's something I'm sure you must be able to realize by now." _

_She looked up at him and into his eyes, "I didn't need to read your mind to figure that out," she said grudgingly, "But at least let us help you on your way. I have a ship and enough gold to see you around this universe and back safely, and it is yours. The least I can do for one of us." _

_He nodded, "Thank You…"_

Beyond sat upright in the darkened room. Not the bedroom that most Users in DreamLand usually woke up to, but the same room he had fallen asleep in, on the _Pride of Clan Hunters_. Speaking to the dark and silent room, Beyond said, "I will settle my debts, and then I will find a way out of this world. That has never changed."

Content, he rolled over and fell back asleep.

* * *

The man who had once called himself Ownage stood on the cliffs of Shayol Ghul, examining the blade that had been given to him as a sign of the Great Lord's pleasure. He knew that once he had been Ownage, and before that, something else. But he had a new name now: Wicked.

He swung the sword in his hands a few times experimentally and smiled. The black colored blade was enough to make the Trollocks that were assembled in front of him stamp hooves, screech through an eagle beak, or growl from a wolf's inhuman face. Before coming to this land, he had never heard of a Trollock or any of the other wonderful creations that had been made by Aginor. Trollocks were inhuman creatures that spoke only with a harsh rasping language and wore inky black armor. The variety in Trollocks amazed Wicked, as they all were unique. There were similarities; however, as they all had either human like legs, or ram's hooves in place of feet. Their faces varied too, since some had the sharp beak of an eagle coming out of a human face, while others had the face of a wolf. Others still had ram's horns coming out of the top of their heads.

But they all had one thing in common: a great lust to kill.

Below the slopes of Shayol Ghul stood well over ten thousand trollocks, and they were given into his care by the Great Lord to lead across DreamLand and causing destruction and chaos on a mass scale.

Smiling in a snarl, he got up into the saddle of a horse that had once belonged to a myrddraal and booted the midnight black steed at a trot down into the valley where a large ring stood in front of a stream. In front of it sat the Stargate's control panel.

Turning to the ten myddraal that sat on their own jet black steeds, he did not feel the fear that their eyeless gaze usually gave to anyone else, "Are they ready?" he asked in a horse and strained voice.

"Yes, lord," the ten voices of the lurks hissed all at once growled.

Wicked put a hand into his beard, feeling the hair on his face as though he were considering what to do next, "Then we will carry out the Great Lord's commands."

Turning to the Stargate's controls, he began to punch in an address.

* * *

Larry pulled out his PDA to check how much time he had left before he would be manually ejected from DreamLand. His timer read three hours, twenty minutes and he relaxed slightly.

Debating between sticking around and waiting to hear what High Command's verdict would be and leaving DreamLand, he turned to Larry.

"So they never found out?" Larry asked in some awe.

"No. Not 'till one got a hold a' my email password, that is. Then the cat was _really_ out of the bag," Fox said as he leaned back on his cot checking out his new uniform.

The Clan Hunter's uniform was a typical color of forest green that was cut so that one would wear a tee-shirt underneath the jacket, which had all of the rank insignias and other decorations pinned on it. The pants were the same shade and had a pair of cargo pockets on the thighs. At the end of each bunk sat a pair of brand new identical hiking boots which completed the uniform.

"Forest green huh?" Larry said picking his up.

"I reckon' it's to blend into an environment more naturally," Fox said.

Then the speakers inside the cabin hummed to life, "Attention Attention, this is an Announcement from High Command. We are setting course for Hyrule based on information gathered while on Nar Shaddaa. If you wish to know more, please check the message that has been sent to all Clan Hunters members in their PDAs. That is all."

Larry and Fox exchanged glances, and both pulled out their PDAs and opened the message section. Inside was a more detailed explanation, stating that High Command decided to travel to Hyrule based on a council decision to pursue intelligence that had been given by the late Rear Admiral Allied. It also stated that Ambassador Assim was being transferred to the _Pillar of Spring _to serve as the spokes person for High Command on that ship with the newly incorporated ODST part of the clan.

Larry would miss Assim, but he doubted that this would be the last time he saw him.

Surprisingly, in another message that had a list of promotions Larry had been put in charge of his own squad. This one consisted of Fox, Tex, the newcomer Beyond, the slicer Section, and two members of the ODSTs that neither Fox or Larry had met. One was named Leopard and the other was named Red.

Hoping very much that Leopard was not, in fact a Leopard, Larry objected to him being placed in command over Tex because she outranked him as a Lt. Commander. This objection was silenced though when they discovered that Tex had resigned her commission in order to be an enlisted soldier.

"I never liked leading, but I enjoyed doing my job as a warrior and as a part of a team," was all she said when Larry tracked her down to ask her about the change in rank, "Besides, you're _Ta'veren._ It's more interesting this way."

Amazed, Larry decided that he would have to look up the definition of a _Ta'veren_.


	18. Chapter 17: Hero of Time

Chapter 17: Hero of Time

Larry tapped the computer console and lowered the force-field that kept the captured SeeD linguist in her cell. There were no guards on the door because people do not go into DreamLand to do dull things like guard a prison cell; they come in to have fun and usually only came in on the eve of some operation or battle.

As a result, the security in prison cells onboard the _Pride_ had been upgraded making it pretty much impossible for the prisoner to escape unless she had someone to help her escape. Seeing that she was still sitting in the cell, she had clearly not escaped.

The former owners of the _Pride_, the Goa'uld, had not been too concerned over their prisoner's personal comfort and so the cell was simply a cubic box with one very hard steel bench coming out of the back wall. Since the Clan Hunters had not taken any prisoners so far the cells had not been used until now, and also unimproved.

Larry strode into the room with his arms behind his back and his mind reaching out into the Force to detect the captive SeeD's intentions.

She looked up at him, and brushed her blonde hair out of her face before scowling at him, "What do _you_ want?" she asked.

Larry decided that honesty would be best, "For you to answer some questions," he said.

"Yeah, I thought that's what you wanted," she said, "Well I'll have you know that you'll get nothing out of me."

"How about your name?" Larry asked as he thought about using a mind trick. He hadn't used one yet, but he thought he knew how…

She paused for a moment before saying, "I'm Emma Varch."

"Alright Emma, I'm Harrod and a member of the Clan Hunters, but you must have known that last bit at least."

She nodded before stopping herself and she sat rigidly on the edge of the bench.

Larry went on, "I will not hurt you, but I do have to ask you a few questions. Firstly, why are you chasing us?"

She just stared at him silently.

"Alright, then how about something that won't jeopardize your operation. The man in the cowboy hat called our commander a traitor, why?"

Emma's mouth hung open in amazement, "You mean you didn't realize? _That _slime was a SeeD at one time, until he left us. He tried to kill us the last time we caught up with you Clan Hunters, at the battle on the ring. You remember?"

Larry nodded slowly, "When was Allied a SeeD?" he asked.

Emma frowned up at her captor, "Allied? Who's that? I'm talking about John Call, the former head of the disciplinary committee."

Larry stared. That didn't make any sense! John Call was not a program inside of DreamLand, he was a real person! She wasn't lying though, he was sure of that. Deciding he had gotten more then enough startling information, Larry excused himself and activated the cell's security before assembling his squad in one of the hangers.

* * *

With just over three game hours left on his time in DreamLand, Larry knew they would be arriving over the planet that had Hyrule, Labyrnna, Holodrum, and Termina on its surface shortly to search for one of the _Ta'veren_ that Allied had mentioned before he died.

Fox, Tex, Section, and the two ODSTs that Larry had not met were already there standing near the shuttle that would drop them onto the planet. In addition to their squad, on lead by Biffy and another by Fate would be dropped onto different parts of Hyrule to look for this, "Hero of Time."

"You must be Leo and Red," Larry said as he came up.

"And you must be the squad leader," the said one of the ODSTs behind the helmet he wore. Taking his helmet off, he exposed a pale face with bright red hair, "I am Red," he said snapping to attention.

The other marine took of her helmet to reveal a head full of curly red hair and brown eyes. She smiled with full lips, "I'm Leo, short of Leopard."

Introductions were made with the rest of the squad, and the two ODSTs were checking out everyone's gear and equipment just to see what each member's specialty was. Both of the marines were armed with the BR55 rifle, commonly referred to as the battle rifle and side arms of M6D pistols which Fury always carried.

The nearly fell over laughing at Fox's outdated Springfield 03, while they shrugged at Tex's swords, but they had no idea what Section's MUT was or what it did. When they asked her, she explained, but the two marines just shook their heads, "There aren't any computers down there, so why would you need it?" they both asked.

She just shook her head and smiled.

Then Nikita came into the hanger and told them, "Alright, your squad has become most reliable at getting the job done, so we're dropping your team into Hyrule proper which is most likely where the Hero of Time should be.

"Three other teams are being inserted into the other major countries on the surface of this planet. I'll be setting up a small command post inside of the Lon Lon Ranch, which is inside of Hyrule proper about three miles outside of Hyrule's castle town, which is also the capital. You should begin searching for the Hero of Time there."

"How did we know to come here?" Section asked, "These _Ta'veren_ could be anywhere in DreamLand, why here?"

Nikita nodded pushing the blonde hair out of her face with a casual flick of her hand, "The Hero of Time that Allied mentioned has always been associated with Hyrule. But Hyrule is a long way off the beaten path in DreamLand. In fact, most people don't know how to get there, but not for lack of trying. But when I joined DreamLand I arrived just outside Lake Hylia in the south of the Royal family's realm, so I knew where to find it."

"Anything else we need to know?" Larry asked suddenly trying to act like the responsible squad leader.

"Two things," Nikita said, "First, be on the look out for anything suspicious. If what Allied said is correct then this will probably not be a cake walk getting to the Hero of Time, much less convincing him to join us. Also be on watch for the dangers that already exist on this planet. If there's a Hero of Time, you can believe that there is a Villain of Time.

"The other thing is that the _Pride_ and the _Pillar of Spring_ will be on station above the planet and ready to assist you should you need it. That's all."

Larry snapped his heals together and saluted with his fist to his heart, which Nikita promptly returned, "When the rest of our squad shows up, we'll head down to the surface."

Nikita raised a questioning eyebrow at the exact moment that the tall shape of Beyond entered the hanger and strode across to their group.

Nikita's mouth twisted distastefully but then nodded curtly, "Alright you're all here now, so I'll see you on the surface."

* * *

Darkness, pain, and an overwhelming sense of drifting came to the man. He knew that he was alive, but he was sure that 'alive' was not the right word for him. More accurately, he was _aware. _

Then out of the darkness came light, light so strong he was blinded to the pain and even to his awareness. He knew nothing but the light and everything else became irreverent.

As with all things that are new and terrifying, the terror faded from his heart and he began to think again. Then he began to breathe and his surroundings came to him in a second.

Horns blared and the wind blew past his ears as he staggered to his feet, remembering how to stand and walk. Then memory came to him and he fell back to his knees as a groan escaped his parched throat, like the cry of a newborn.

Tears streamed down his face and sobs racked his body, "Oh God!" he cried, "Why doesn't it ever end? When will the dream end?"

He stayed like that for several minutes before he suppressed those feelings and began to check his surroundings. He was standing on gravel on top of a building. Vents and birds dotted the rooftop. Other buildings surrounded him, but there were no people.

Checking around quickly, he noticed that he was wearing a long cloak over a pair of sandals like some Old Testament prophet. _Appropriate_, he thought dryly.

Then his eye caught the thing he knew would be there. On the roof propped up against an intake sat Hyperion, the gunblade that was always with him.

"It never goes away. And now you've become a part of me…" he quoted with a smirk before walking over to pick up the gleaming piece of metal and checked his reflection in it.

Grimacing slightly at the face that looked back at him, he quickly began to concentrate on his own reflection. The face became broader with a darker complexion, then he added darkly trimmed hair and a matching goatee and mustache before giving himself brilliant blue eyes.

He still had some control over this place, it seemed.

He would need a new name too, one that would not give him away again.

Then it occurred to him: Carth Underhill, because the name seemed to fit his new appearance.

"So many miles to go before I rest…" Carth said as he wrapped his cloak around him and walked down the stairs of the building and out onto the street of the city, soon lost to in the crowds of DreamLand.

* * *

Larry raised his hand against the sun to lessen the glare as he looked up at the walls of Hyrule's capital city: Hyrule Castle Town. The wall was at least thirty feet high with battlements dotting the stone grey length of it.

Just in front of where Larry stood sat a moat that was fifteen feet across and about five deep with water that was running through the moat, which hinted that the moat was part of a natural river or stream. Directly across from Larry, a section of the wall was actually made of wood, but that was because it was the raised drawbridge.

On top of the wall, Larry could see bits of light reflecting off of the spear tips and golden armor of Hyrule's royal guard. They had not lowered the gate upon seeing the small squad of newcomers.

"Well now what d'ya reckon' we should do?" Fox asked, leaning on his rifle. All of the squad was dressed in the green uniforms that had just been issued to them.

"That bridge has to open sometime," Tex suggested, "Maybe they keep it shut during the night."

"Then why hasn't it opened?" Red asked angrily motioning to the sun that had crested the horizon.

Larry cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted up to the guards, "Oy! Hello! Why don't you open the gate?"

The guards looked down and considered the newcomers, "It's not time yet!"

"Not time?" Larry asked, "When will it be time?"

"Not for another three minutes!" the guard shouted back.

Larry rolled his eyes, "It looks like we wait," he said.

Turning away from the castle, Larry started in surprise to see a tall robust woman with gray hair and pointy ears standing just behind them. He had neither seen nor sensed her arrival, but there she stood with her arms crossed flexing her wrist smoothly.

"Hello?" Larry said cautiously.

The rest of the squad spun around to look at the tall woman, apparently none of them had noticed her approach either.

"I am Impa," the woman said, "I am the Princesses' bodyguard and head of security for Hyrule Castle. Why are you here?"

Larry opened his mouth to speak, but then he noticed her eyes. They were bright red. Suppressing a shiver, Larry answered quickly, "We're looking for someone."

Impa narrowed her eyes, making them almost seem to glow, "Who are you looking for?"

"That's none of your business," Tex snapped coming up to Larry's shoulder.

Impa's eyes locked onto Tex and onto the sword she was carrying before casually disregarding her. Then she returned her attention to Larry, "I see eight armed strangers wearing uniforms and seeking entry to the city of the King. It's every bit my business."

Larry felt Tex and the rest of his team stiffen, but he made a soothing gesture to his team, "We are looking for someone called the Hero of Time," he said.

Impa's face went from suspicion to shock, "Why are you looking for _him?"_ she blurted.

Larry figured that since he had come this far, he might as well tell her the truth, "I don't know if I can really explain it, but all I know is that we need his help."

"The eight of you need his help? Or there are more of you?"

"You keep saying that," Beyond said in a deep rumble, "But there are only seven of us here."

The other Clan Hunters began to nod their heads, and Impa said, "No. There are eight of you."

She produced a small sphere from a pocket which reminded Larry of a walnut and threw it at a shrub that was just to the right of the drawbridge. With a loud _crack_ the shrub shook and a body fell out of it, garbed in black.

Larry was beginning to get tired of learning that people were around him that he didn't know about. Drawing deeply on the Force Larry began to cast around with his mind to look for anything _else_ that might surprise him.

He found nothing, so he walked over to the bush just as the fallen black-garbed person just as he was beginning to struggle to his feet. Larry was close enough to see the panic in the dark eyes as he neared, but he didn't see that long. That was when Larry realized that the person was garbed in the same black ninja clothing that he had seen while training with Delaine.

The ninja took off for the moat, the closest thing even close to cover that Larry could see. It amazed him that the ninja had managed to make it to the bush without being spotted. Angrily, Larry reached out in the Force and snagged the fleeing figure in a powerful force grip.

Pulling the struggling figure back toward him, Larry stripped away the mask with a casual and almost unconscious flick of his wrist, and the Force obeyed him. That surprised him, because it seemed he was mastering his powers in this world.

But what surprised him even more was the face that greeted him under the mask. His shock was so overwhelming that he nearly lost control of the Force altogether.

"You!" he cried, "What are _you_ doing here?"

By this time, all of the rest of the squad had their weapons drawn and were pointing them at the previously unseen threat.

Not surprisingly, Delaine grimaced at him, "I'm supposed to be watching your back you blockhead."

"Well I'll be darned!" Fox shouted, "It's a girl!"

"Brilliant observation Einstein," Leo said sarcastically rolling her eyes.

"You know her?" Beyond asked with a deep rumble.

Larry nodded, "Yeah I know her," he turned to the still suspended Delaine, "Why are you following me?"

Delaine scowled at him, "Why else? To keep _you_ out of trouble."

Larry gave her a flat look, "It's only a game. You have to be following me for some other reason then…"

Just as Larry was in the middle of his sentence, an axe blade went through Delaine's neck, seeming to come from no where. Blood blossomed out of her severed neck and her head rolled a few feet toward John, her face frozen in a mask of shock.

Larry immediately stepped back, shock painting his own face. Standing immediately in front of him stood a massive man nearly head and shoulders taller then him, and was holding two very large axes.

His head was bald and he was grinning at the blood spattered axe with glee, "She was following you because we paid her to follow you and keep you safe. She couldn't do it without being detected though, and so she failed."

All of the weapons came up again and Larry pulled his lightsaber off of his belt and ignited the purple blade. Rage boiled through him, and it took him time to remember that his friend was not truly dead, but the blood on the ground just kept making him more and more angry.

"You will die for that scum!" he shouted as he was about to step forward, but Beyond placed his large bulk between the two men.

The bald headed man seemed taken aback by the sudden appearance of the taller man, "Why are you here, Little Brother?" he asked, "Have you finally decided to join us?"

Beyond shook his head forcefully, "I was here because I chose to be here. Now why are you here?"

"I was sent here by our Sister to retrieve the Hero of Time, which it seems you too were sent here to do," the bald man said without hesitation.

"That is correct," Beyond said with a curt nod.

"The Hero of Time is not going anywhere," Impa said standing off to the side of the two extremely taller men with her arms crossed, "He will go with no one, because his task here is too important."

"Radio Nikita and inform her of the situation," Larry murmured softly under his breath to Section, who pulled out her MUT and began typing away at it quickly.

"Why do you want the Hero of Time?" Beyond asked.

"The same reason you do, Brother. To kill a God."

"So you still believe that our salvation lies in his death?"

"Of course Brother, all of the God Killers do."

Larry pushed forward, "WHY DID YOU KILL HER?"

The bald headed man looked at Larry then, tearing his gaze away from Beyond, "Because she failed, and the God Killers do not tolerate failure."

Larry snarled angrily and he tried to push forward past Beyond, but the big man held him in place. Leo and Red caught their squad leader's mood and they both moved to the bald headed man's sides covering him with their Battle Rifles, their visors and armor locked down and ready for combat. Tex drew her own sword and held it in front of her, while Section's eyes bulged as she typed into her MUT. Fox's face was a mask of concentration as he worked the bolt to load a round into the chamber, the hallow _clack_ setting the mood of the Clan Hunters.

Section grabbed Tex's shoulder and whispered something urgently in her ear, which the bald headed man took note of, "I think you should listen to _her_ before you try anything rash," he said, brandishing his large axe over at Section.

Tex stood up and peered more intently at the bald headed man, her stance shifting slightly. She was on full alert now, and the rest of the Clan Hunters caught that mood, each stiffening up. Larry backed up, not turning his back on the large man as he tried to speak to Section.

"He's reading as though he would be a Non Playable Character," she whispered urgently, "He's actually a _part_ of the system."

Larry blinked, "That's not possible, he's in a Clan and is clearly not from this world. How did he get here?"

"There's more," Section said, glancing at Beyond, who was the only one who was still casually leaning unconcerned, "Beyond's the same way, he's a _part_ of the system, not a player."

"NPCs don't join clans!" Larry insisted, "It goes against their programming."

"It would appear that that is not the case," Section said flatly, a slight grimace on her face.

The sound of the drawbridge lowering drew everybody's eyes, until it lowered and settled into the ground with a loud _thunk!_ About two dozen of the Hyrule Royal Guards filed out on the bridge with their lances on their shoulders. They quickly formed up around Impa before surrounding the Clan Hunters and the bald headed man.

"Now," Impa said, "You will all surrender and come with me."

Larry kept his saber ignited as he glanced at Section, "Anything else I should know?" he asked.

"Just that he's gone," Section said motioning to where the bald headed man was standing.

Indeed, the bald headed man had disappeared and Larry stood up as he deactivated his blade. Numbly, he glanced at the body of his friend before tossing his weapon to the ground in front of him.

Shocked, the rest of the Clan Hunters numbly began to unlimber their own weapons and put them to the ground. Beyond took a sip out of his hip flask, and only dropped his quarterstaff after half of the lances were pointed into his torso.

"What?" he asked when he saw their faces, "I was _going_ to do it."

* * *

"And I'll tell you again!" Larry shouted through the bars of his prison, "We are looking for the Hero of Time because we believe he's…"

"Liar!" the royal guard said as he jabbed the long haft of his spear into the bars, which Larry narrowly avoided.

"Will you quit that?" Larry shouted as he jerked himself to the side to avoid another thrust made by the guard.

The Clan Hunters were in the bowels of Hyrule Castle, in a typical cell that was surrounded by very thick bricks on three sides, and a side of bars covering the fourth side, through which a very sweaty and angry royal guard was beginning to tire of hearing the same things out of the mouths of the Clan Hunters. Apparently the interrogator couldn't believe that a full platoon of soldiers had arrested seven people who were completely innocent.

Larry was tired of dealing with this character too, as it looked like the Clan Hunters would be wasting their time in this jail cell. Time which was not infinite.

The guard opened his mouth again, but cut off as the sound of a heavy reinforced door ground open. The hem of a white dress could be seen along with slipperier feet, but as the figure descended the stairs that were across from the cell door, Larry could discern pink slashes in the dress, and fancy embroidery on the sleeves. The image of three golden triangles linked by their corners surrounded by a pair of doves in flight sat in the center of the dress. Then the rest of the girl appeared, and the guard quickly retracted his spear and stood upright extremely stiffly.

"Princess Zelda, why are you here? This is no place for a.."

"I'll be fine guardsman, so long as you are here to guard me," the girl said and she looked directly into Larry's eyes with her own brilliant blue gaze. Her hair was cut short, and was covered by…a bonnet? Larry didn't know.

"Impa tells me you seek the Hero of Time," the girl said primly, "And I understand that you require his help."

Larry nodded, "That's right…your highness," he added on about a moment later, while making a leg. She was royalty after all.

The rest of the Clan Hunters made unsteady bows behind him, even the women which caused the princess to giggle slightly.

"He's not here just now," the girl said, "But I will tell you where he is and let you go after him."

"Your majesty?" the guard gasped, "But these people are criminals!"

"What crime have they committed jailer?" Princess Zelda asked patiently, "They were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I'm ordering you to release them."

The guard was clearly not pleased, because he scowled and looked on the verge of shouting when the Princess began tapping her foot impatiently. The guard quickly reconsidered what he was going to say and fumbled for his keys.

As the guard was trying to open the door, the girl looked up at Larry with large eyes, wiggling her pointy ears, "I know that there was someone else looking for the Hero of Time," she said matter-of-factly, "And I know that _he_ committed murder on Hyrule's soil. Do you know who he was?"

Larry considered the Princess for a moment, and then glanced at Beyond. When he saw that the big man remained silent, Larry shook his head, "I don't know who he was, your highness. I wish I did, because the person he killed was a friend of mine."

The Princess lowered her eyes for a moment, "I'm sorry."

Larry nodded slightly. He had not expected sympathy from a computer program.

"The Hero of Time is important to us, but he has already sealed Gannondorf in the Sacred Realm, and I believe what you say to be true," She said as the Clan Hunters filed out of their roomy prison cell, "But I don't like the other man's intention, and I want you to find him before he does."

"Where is he?" Larry asked anxiously, "Do you know?"

"He is not in Hyrule any more," she said, "He left, and the last I heard he was in Termina, a nation which is our neighbor."

The princess' mouth tightened in worry, "if…when you find him…give him this," she said handing Larry a folded piece of paper. Turning it over, Larry noted a large lump of green wax with the image of the three triangles that the Princess wore on her dress.

Seeing his interest, she said, "That is the Triforce. A symbol of the actual Triforce, which is held in the Sacred Realm."

Larry nodded before making another bow, "Thank you, your highness," he said.

* * *

The team leader's name was Ozzie and he was very wet. Moving at the head of a five man squad, he was wading through knee deep swamp water. His team had received a tip that the Hero of Time was in this swamp, south of Clock Town.

Only thing was, it was a very wet swamp. They had managed to catch a boat ride from some creepy looking hag about half way into the swamp, but now they were walking the rest of the way into the swamp.

"I don't understand how he could have gotten in this far," Spacer said peering over his sunglasses into the rain around them. He pulled his hat down over his ears a little farther, "I mean, this swamp is poisonous, has plants that eat you, and appears to have insects the size of airplanes that sting. I mean, I know he's the Hero of Time…"

"Stow it," Ozzie said as he flipped his long black hair out of his eyes, "You're a Clan Hunter remember? We gotta show those ODSTs that we're not as wimpy as they think we are."

Finally coming to the end of the pond, Ozzie lead his team up onto dry land near the entrance of a forest that was very dark and thick.

"If it's not one thing…" Spacer growled rolling his eyes at the thick underbrush.

"There's a trail right here," one of the new Clan Hunters, a blonde haired woman named Starbright said.

"Well then I suppose that we should head down it," Ozzie said grinning. He grinned wider when he noticed a pair of footprints in the mud.

When he pointed them out, someone else pointed out, "Those are small boots. I thought the Hero of Time was supposed to be a full grown adult."

Ozzie frowned at that too, and stroked a pale finger along his chin.

"Well find out if it's the Hero of Time or not when we get inside," he said finally.

"I don't think you'll be going anywhere," boomed a voice from behind a tree as a tall bald headed man stepped out from behind a tree.

Instantly, the weary Clan Hunters trained their weapons on him when they saw the huge axes he carried in either hand.

"Who are you?" Ozzie shouted as he readied a few destructive spells incase this went downhill.

"I am Number One," the bald headed man said, "And this is the end of your search for the Hero of Time."

With that, he easily flung one of his axes into the Spacer's chest, who gasped as the air rushed out of his now punctured lungs. The grenade launcher he loved so much fell to the muddy swamp and he vanished from DreamLand.

The other five remaining members of the Clan Hunters opened up with whatever weapons they carried, which was an assortment of firearms except for Ozzie. The large man sidestepped behind a tree and rushed Ozzie just as he threw a powerful fireball at the man's previous cover.

Unable to react quickly enough, he Ozzie fell to the mud as the axe went into his leg, severing it at the knee. Pain shot up through Ozzie's body and his concentration slipped: a deadly thing for a mage.

Unable to concentrate, but still conscious he rolled to the side to watch as Number One systematically killed each and every one of the Clan Hunters. Bullets seemed to dissolve when they approached him, and those that didn't he somehow managed to bat away with the spinning axe blades.

Starbright was the last one to die, because she tried to run, but the big man simply reached out and grabbed her by her long blonde hair, and kept pulling. The horrified screams Starbright even overrode the sound of Ozzie's heart pumping in his head.

Finally, the only sound was that of the falling rain on the water of the swamp. Not even the birds called. Ozzie lay there, looking up into the sky with his breath coming in ragged breaths.

Numbly he noticed that the big man was standing over him now cleaning his axe blades with a cloth, which Ozzie realized was the tattered remains of Spacer's shirt.

The big man was saying something now, and Ozzie struggled to hear it, "…Can you hope to overcome _him_ if you can't even overcome me?"

With one last great mustering of effort, Ozzie raised his head and spat on the big man's muddy boot.

Number One's face became a snarl and he raised his boot and brought it down on Ozzie's windpipe, crushing it and Ozzie faded from DreamLand.

Turning away from the swamp, Number One looked down to see a boy of about eleven or twelve standing there staring at him, dressed in green. A bright yellow fairy bobbed around the boy's head.

Number One smiled wickedly.

* * *

"They still haven't reported in," Nikita said as she stepped off of the horse she had been riding around the Lon Lon Ranch.

Larry grabbed the horse's bridle as the woman came off of her horse, but from the looks of her dismount she didn't need the help.

"We were told that the Hero of Time is not in Hyrule," Larry repeated. The rest of his team was currently lounging against the side of the stable near the entrance of the Lon Lon ranch. A red haired girl who's name was Malon was bouncing back and forward between the two teams of Clan Hunters who had taken up camp at the Lon Lon ranch asking them all sorts of questions. She was apparently the Ranch owner's daughter, but no one really seemed to mind her.

Fox and Red were having fun picking up the chickens and throwing them back and forward between each other until the Ranch owner came running out of the stable shouting. Fox put the chicken down with a lopsided grin while Red and some of the other members of Larry's squad began laughing.

"Then that is most likely where this bald headed man went," Nikita said, "If he is looking for the Hero of Time as well. That also means that the team will not expect anyone else to be looking for him. How much time do you have left?"

Larry flipped out his PDA and checked the time, "Two hours twelve minutes," he said simply, "And the rest of my team is about the same."

Nikita patted down the sides of the horse, her blond hair held together by a bandanna, "And do you know anything more about who Beyond is?"

Larry paused for a moment, "No."

"Or what his connection is to this group? The God Killers?"

"…no."

"Then I suggest that you find out before any course of action is taken. Biffy is flying one of the UH-60's back from a scouting mission and will take you to Termina _if_ you can get a straight explanation out of Beyond. Otherwise I'm going to ground all of you and send you back to the _Pride_. We accepted him on your word, remember?"

Larry's mouth twisted but he nodded. If he brought bad company into the Clan Hunters, it would be his fault.

"I'll see what I can do," he said and after snapping to attention and saluting with a fist to his chest, he walked over to where Beyond stood leaning against the corner of the stable, watching Fox attempt to catch another chicken.

As Larry approached, the big man looked down at his squad leader with a blank expression, "I know what you're going to ask," he said, "and I owe you an explanation."

Larry looked up into Beyond's eyes and crossed his arms, waiting for a reply.

Beyond sighed and uncrossed his arms to dig out his hip flask, he drained a healthy gulp before starting.

"I'm not really a user in the system. But I'm not really a program here either. You see, I've been trapped into this position by an organization named the 'God Killers.' They took me and fused me with the network, but something went wrong. Now the God Killers are stuck inside of DreamLand permanently. And that's what happened to me."

Larry waited for Beyond to say something else, but when he remained silent Larry asked, "Why are they interested in the Hero of Time?"

Beyond shrugged, "If I had to guess? Probably the same reason we are."

Larry thought that over for a moment, "Okay, that guy said something about killing a god? What did he mean?"

Beyond grimaced, "My brothers and sisters believe that the only way for us to escape this world is to destroy the one who made it."

Larry was shocked, "John Call? Destroy the _Administrator?_ That's crazy!"

Beyond nodded his head sadly, "But they feel that there is no other way."

Larry considered what he was going to say next, "How does the Hero of Time relate to destroying John Call?"

Beyond shrugged his massive shoulders, "I don't know. The first I had heard of this was when that team leader mentioned gathering together all of the _Ta'veren_ at Nar Shaddaa."

Then something in Larry's brain clicked, "What if Allied wanted us to destroy John Call? What if Call was the one that Allied was being chased by?"

Beyond looked down at his squad leader impassively, but said nothing.

The more Larry thought about it, the more sense it made. After all, who else would be powerful enough to give Allied such fear?

"I need to go report this," Larry said, "Because this changes everything."

Beyond shook his head, "Not really. The only thing that is different is that now you need to figure out _why_ the administrator deserves to be removed from DreamLand."

Larry frowned, "What? Do you know why Allied throught he should be destroyed?"

Beyond shook his head slowly, almost mournfully, "No. I don't. But a thing as powerful as DreamLand should not be kept in the hands of any man. The power it gives over the mind is extraordinary; just look at me and the God Killers. We are held here against our will."

* * *

The helicopter roared over the treetops of the swamp as the two ODSTs trained their battle rifles over the broad forest. This was the swamp lands to the south of Termina's capital city of Clock Town, and the last reported position of Ozzie's squad.

Section sat inside the UH 60's troop compartment as she held her MUT on her knees and typed into the keyboard while looking intently at the screen.

The bodies of both playable characters and non-playable characters did not remain in DreamLand that long, so there were almost no bodies when the helicopter found the spot were Ozzie's team had been butchered. Only the team leaders body was left, which told what had happened to the rest of his team.

Now Section was trying to search for any signals inside of the coding of DreamLand itself to find either the bald headed man with the axe, or the strong signal of a _ta'veren_.

Larry had his arms crossed and was glaring out at the setting sun with a look of grim determination. Fox sat sipping out of his flask while he kept adding bullets to his Springfield, and taking them back out. Tex had her legs crossed and her eyes closed, as though getting ready for an intense sport match.

But Beyond sat in the very back of the helicopter, staring blankly into the polished staff he always carried. He removed one of his hip flasks, and drank deeply before carefully screwing the cap back on. The man not only looked sad, but his mood was infecting the others.

"There!" Section cried suddenly as she stabbed a finger into her MUT, "Down in that swamp!"

"Which one?" Fox asked, "There are a lot of swamps down there."

Section spared him a glance, "The one with the purple water at the head of the waterfall. It seems to be coming from _inside_ the swamp itself."

"Inside?" Fox asked as he pointed to the water, "I ain't going in that!"

Larry poked his head out of the open door, "I don't think you'll have to," he said, "There's a platform down there."

Biffy circled the large swamp one more time before dropping the team off on a wooden platform near the center of the lily pad covered water.

Ducking to avoid the spinning blades, all seven of the team kept their heads down until they gave Biffy the thumbs up, and then he took off to circle the swamp again. Once the helicopter was out of sight, the silence of the swamp was only broken up by the occasional croaking of a frog or caw of some bird. There were no bugs in DreamLand.

"So now what?" Red asked as he stood up and removed his helmet, "I don't see anything around here."

"You wouldn't say that if you knew what I knew, hoot!" came a shrill voice from behind the group.

Everybody spun to look up at an extremely large owl, who was sitting on a bit of string that had been strung between the posts of the platform.

After a moment, Larry asked, "Did that bird just say something?"

The owl cocked its head and gave a loud hoot, "I am no mere bird, stranger. My name is Kaepora Gaebora." Larry's jaw dropped, "It _did_ talk!" "Are you really _that_ surprised?" the owl asked. Larry was about to say that he was, but then thought better of it. He had seen stranger in DreamLand. 

Section stepped forward in the pause as Leo and Red went back to looking around the swamp for movement, "You said you knew something, sage owl?" she asked politely.

The owl twisted nearly upside-down, "Now see, I like her. She doesn't get excited by a talking owl and she even called me wise!" he ruffled his feathers in satisfaction.

"There is a temple below this swamp," the owl said again, "But you can only get inside of it by playing a certain song."

"A song?" Beyond asked, a loud rumble.

"Anyone got an instrument?" Larry asked.

When everyone shook their heads, Section produced her MUT, "I think I can play notes with this…" she said.

Larry breathed easily, "Good."

"But do you know the song?" Kaepora Gaebora asked in a sing song voice. "Where would we get this song…wise owl?" Larry asked, adding the title on a moment too late. "Oh, so 'wise owl' now is it? Alright, I'll tell you." Section sat cross legged in the center of the platform and waited for the owl to start. A few moments later, the large owl started singing out notes in a song. Section listened and then played around with the computer until she finally said, "I got it!" Everyone waited for Section to turn up the volume on her MUT before the notes began to belt out in an exact echo of Kaepora Gaebora's song. She let it play through the song once, and then cut off the music. For a long moment nothing happened, but then the water around the swamp began to shake and ripple. Suddenly the top of a large building came into view, and then more and more of the building as it rose out of the swamp. 

It looked like it was carved out of rock, but it had a tree growing on the top of it. A square doorway was in the center of the building, like a gaping mouth looking for flies to eat.

"Right," Larry said, "I guess we go in."

* * *

"I don't care what he says!" The President of the United States screamed into the phone, "Tell him this exactly: 'If he does not stop trying to gain international spotlight like this, then he may attract the wrong kind of attention.' Yeah I know it sounds like a threat, because it is one! I'm tired of dancing around with niceties, now good _day_ Mr. Ambassador."

The Presidential Secretary stuck her head into the door of the Oval Office the moment he was off the line, "Mr. President, your next appointment is here."

"Thank you Dana, could you send him in straight away?"

The gray haired secretary bobbed her head and ducked out of the doorway, and John Call walked into the Oval Office, dressed in a gray suit with some minor pinstripes. The President stood up and walked in front of his desk where he shook John's hand.

"Mr. Call, thank you for coming on such short notice."

"It is my pleasure, Mr. President. It is not everyday that the leader of the free world requests that you come to see him."

The President shrugged, "Events around the world have sparked up and require the immediate attention. As a result, all of the leaders of most of the nation want to meet in a secure location, but we need to meet quickly. Can this be done in your DreamLand?"

John pretended to look surprised at this request, "With ease Mr. President. All they have to do is contact me and let me know the time and place of the meeting and I will make it as secure as necessary."

"Are there any risks involved with this system?" The President asked after a pause.

"No sir. It's completely safe with no threat of harm to a person's body or mind. I built in safeguards into the system to avoid such abuse."

"Good. I will be in touch with you about this meeting which is supposed to take place in five days time. We want this to be very secure and secret, do you understand? No one is to know about it."

"My lips are sealed, Mr. President," John Call said seriously, "I'll get to work on a secure location right away."

* * *

Larry stepped into the large circular room with his lightsaber held in his hand. It was extremely dark, but he resisted the urge to ignite the purple blade to cast its illumination around the spacious room.

The rest of his team filed into the room behind him and spread out looking off into the darkness. When Section brought up the rear and entered the room, a heavy stone door slammed down behind them and torches all around the room lit up, blinding the Clan Hunters momentarily.

In the center of the room stood the bald headed man with the two axes, and on the ground next to him sat a small boy bound, blindfolded, and gagged with rope and cords.

"I knew you'd come," he said, "Have you changed your mind, brother?" the bald headed man said to Beyond.

Beyond stepped forward with his staff grasped in his hand, "No, Number One. I will not join you."

Number One shook his head in pity, "Then you have to die. I you are not with us, then you are against us."

The big man took off running toward the Clan Hunters, but the two ODSTs were ready for him and already started firing a steady stream of bullets while pulling an accurate lead on his movement. Fox brought up his own Springfield and stared down the scope after dropping into the prone position near the back of the room.

Tex drew her sword and Larry ignited his saber just as Number One closed the distance between them. Blocking the first strike Larry let his mind go and let the Force control his movements, which was becoming more and more easier every time he did it. He ducked and dodged the two blades with some effort before Tex came to his side and she began throwing her own sword into the big man.

Both of the ODSTs began to move out to the sides of the swordsmen to get a better shot when the tip of an axe blade caught Tex across the jaw, sending her stepping backwards. Larry stepped in and stuck with his lightsaber, but took the back of one of the axes in his face, sending him backwards.

Sparkles filled Larry's gaze, and Tex snarled at the cut across her face but both moved forward. Beyond finally came in behind the large man, but hesitantly with the staff held at the ready. Number One sensed Beyond coming and threw himself backward with alarming speed. Beyond barley blocked the attacks before he would have gotten his head taken off, but the taller man fought back with more power then the baldheaded man had thought.

"You've gotten stronger, brother," Number One said grinning, "But you're still not strong enough!" he said as he planted a boot in Beyond's chest.

Tex and Larry came at him again, lashing out with their weapons and managed to get a few nicks on the arms of the large bald man, but he shrugged them off as though he did not even notice them.

Beyond came back and the three had him hemmed in, but then Tex blocked one sword only to get a strong kick to the knee, which caused her to gasp and fall to the floor, writhing in pain. Anger flashed from Larry and he threw his hand out, drawing deeply on the Force, which sent the big man sprawling up against the far wall.

Section dashed by the fighters as she made for the bundle that was next to where the big man had started.

Larry drew deeply on the Force again and leapt across the room in pursuit of the big man, who had recovered from the Force throw.

"You are a strong one!" Number One called as he jumped backward out of Larry's range, "if you live, you may be strong enough to challenge _him_."

"Shut up!" Larry screamed, and he lashed out again, this time sending the large man sprawling across the room to slam against another far wall, which he quickly jumped after.

Now Number One was looking very angry and not toying around, his concentration increased as he tried to fend off the enraged Larry's attacks. Unconcerned, Larry stuck out with his saber again and again taking nicks of his own but managing to land several powerful hits.

Tex and Beyond finally caught up from across the room, and the now anxious looking Number One was already flailing around uneasily. Larry's rage did not subside and he lashed out one more time and managed to plant his saber firmly in the man's throat.

Number One's eyes were one of shock as he surveyed Larry's cold eyes before he fell forward, dead.

Tex and Beyond were looking at Larry with a shocked expression and then Larry began to breathe again. He looked down at the big man in surprise, "I didn't know I could do that," he said, "I had no idea,"

"Neither did we," Beyond said simply.

The three moved away from Number One's body as it began to fade away and made off towards the center of the spacious room where Section, Fox, Leo, and Red were standing around a boy of about thirteen or fourteen.

Looking up, Section said, "Sir, may I present to you the Hero of Time."

"Oh don't mention me or anything," came a sarcastic voice from a small hovering ball of light that flew around the boy's head.

"And this is Tatl," Leo said putting her finger out for the small fairy to land on, "She was with the Hero."

"I do have a name, you know," the Hero of Time said, "And it's Link."

Larry nodded as he clipped his lightsaber onto his belt, "Leo, Red, can you two see to Tex? That gash on her face is pretty nasty."

"On my face?" Tex asked angrily, "You should see yourself!"

Larry grimaced, "In a moment, I want to talk to Link first."

Larry rocked back onto his heels and looked up at Link, "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No."

Larry nodded, "Good. I have come to find you, because I need your help, Link," Larry began and he began to explain their reasons for being there.

"You mean I'd have to leave Hyrule…forever?" Link asked after Larry had finished.

"No, not forever," Larry assured him, "But just for a little while. All of us are at risk, and we hope you can see that."

Link nodded, "Yeah, I know. I'm not called the Hero of Time for nothing you know…"

"Do you want time to think about it?" Larry asked.

Link nodded his head, "yes, but can we get out of here first?"

"Yeah, of course," Larry said grinning, "You heard the man, let's get out of here!"


	19. Chapter 18: Agents

Chapter 18: Agents

Larry stood up, his wounds stinging him as he moved. With one more glance toward Number One's body, he turned and started walking toward the door that had slammed shut behind them as they walked in.

"Any idea on how to get past this?" Larry asked as he inspected the heavy door.

Section came up and began to look at the door herself before typing into her MUT for a moment.

"Whatever controls the door was triggered by all of us coming in here, so if I can just reverse the scripting…" she said, and then her eyes lit up, "Ah!" and the door slid back up into the ceiling.

Moving out of the temple carefully, as to avoid any other attacks, the team was only able to make contact with Nikita after getting outside.

"Good to hear from you," Nikita's voice came back just moments after Larry had reported in, "What's your status?"

"We're alive, all of us. But some of us are injured, and we have the Hero of Time and he's coming with us to your location, over," Larry reported into the radio that the ODSTs had been carrying.

"Good, a helicopter is on its way to pick you up. We want to get everybody back on the _Pride_, because we don't have enough time left to stick around here, over."

"Understood, when will the helicopter arrive, over?"

"ETA is five minutes, understood, over?"

"Roger that, out," Larry flipped the radio back to standby and handed it over to Leo, who slipped it into her vest.

* * *

The helicopter landed on the grounds of the Lon Lon Ranch and the entire squad jumped out. Link was on his hands and knees on the ground as the rotor blades stopped spinning.

"That was awful!" He groaned, "I didn't know that it was possible to fly, but I always expected it be easier…smoother, like a bird in the sky."

"Wimp!" Tatl called.

"Just 'cause I don't fly around all day doesn't mean I'm a wimp!" the twelve year old shot back.

Nikita came up, bend over to avoid the spinning blades of the helicopter and she looked down at the blonde haired boy with a startled expression on her face.

"_That's_ the Hero of Time?" she asked.

"Yes, I am!" Link shouted in expiration.

"You're…younger then I expected," Nikita said as the helicopter blades began to stop spinning.

Link rolled his blue eyes, "So I've heard…" he looked around and his eyes bulged, "We're in Hyrule! At the Lon Lon Ranch! That's amazing!"

Nikita pulled everybody away from the helicopter and began checking after how much time each of the members had. A short amount of time remained now for most of the Clan Hunters, most had under a half hour left. Some members of the ODSTs had more sporadic numbers, but for the most part the majority of the newly formed coalition between the Clan Hunters and the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers was about to be forcibly logged out of the system.

"Which means we need a decision from the Hero o…Link here," Nikita murmured to Larry.

Larry nodded and moved over to Link, "Time is short Link, and we really need your help. Are you willing to come with us?"

Link looked up at Larry, "What about my horse? Epona? And Navi? And Zelda? What about all of them? What if I leave them and they need me?"

Larry shook his head, "I don't know. I can't answer that, Link. All I know is that there are a lot of people outside of Hyrule that need you, and I don't even know why that is."

"Epona?" came a voice from behind the assembled Clan Hunters, and everybody turned around to see Malon, the ranch owner's young daughter.

"It _is_ you!" she cried upon seeing Link, "Where's Epona?" she demanded.

Link's eyes widened for a moment before he adverted them, "…stolen," he muttered.

"What?!" she shouted, "You let _my_ horse get STOLEN?!"

Link's eyes were firmly planted on the ground in front of his feet, "…I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"You're sorry!? You're SORRY?!" Malon was screaming, "How can you have forgotten the song so easily?!"

Link looked up abashed, "The…song?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes! The song!" Malon took a deep breath before putting both of her hands together in front of her chest and began to sing a wordless tune.

"La la la! La la la! La la laaaa la laaaa! Hmm ho hmm ho ho la la laaa!"

Link brightened up, "That's right! The song brings the Epona back to me, no matter what!"

Malon sighed in relief, "Good, now don't you forget it a second time!" she scolded Link with an upraised finger.

Link's eyes narrowed onto the finger as though it were an upraised sword. Eyes still narrowed, he pulled out a blue ocarina. Standing upright, he duplicated the song that Malon had just sung out loud.

With a loud neigh, everybody turned around to look at a chestnut brown mare coming around the corner of the barn.

Larry and Nikita exchanged confused glances, while Fox said out loud, "How in the heck…"

Link smiled as he petted the horse's nose and she wickered softly, "How could I ever have forgotten the song?" he murmured under his breath.

Turning away from his horse Link nodded his head, "If there are people that will need my help, then I will be the one to help them. I will come with you," he said.

Nikita nodded at her visible relief, "Thank you, I will inform the rest of our clan at once. If you will come this way…" Nikita gestured toward the waiting shuttle that was being used to transfer the remaining Clan Hunters and ODSTs to the _Pride_ and _Pillar. _

"I'm taking Epona with me!" he called after her, and Nikita turned around, "Of course you are…I've purchased a horse from this ranch as well…"

"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to do that," a voice shouted from across the expanse of the farm house.

Larry turned to spot three men in dark suits with sunglasses advancing across the open field coming from the farm house. When they got closer, Larry noticed that they had ear pieces in their right ears, much like the US Secret Service. They even had the familiar scowl on their face, as though sensing would-be assassins sitting in the bushes near the Presidential Limo.

"And who are you?" Nikita demanded putting herself in-between Link and the tall black suited men.

Larry could already sense their intent, and he motioned to his squad to begin spreading out. In the middle of a field, there would be almost no cover for either side to duck behind, should it come down to a firefight, so he was hoping to overwhelm the three men right away.

"My name is Tabb," the black suited man said, "And these are Agents Brown and Jones. We are system administrator enforces, designed to keep the security of the system safe. You are about to remove a _Ta'veren_ from his home where he is needed. Such action is restricted. You will cease and depart at once."

"You don't think that you can just order us around like that, do you?" Nikita demanded.

"Yes, we do," Agent Tabb replied, "Because we are the Administrational enforcers. You will all leave, at once."

"I go where I want!" Link shouted, "You can't stop me! If there are people that will need my help then I want to help them!"

Larry put himself between the Agents, and to his surprise, Beyond stepped over to his left side, and the Agents turned their attention to Larry and Beyond.

"You…" Agent Brown said when he looked at Beyond.

"Enough," Agent Tabb said, "If they will not leave as instructed, then we will force them too."

"And the _Ta'veren_?" Agent Jones asked.

"We modify him, he must remain here," Agent Tabb answered.

Agent Brown had not moved, "What about…"

"He is still…"

"Only human," Agent Jones finished for Agent Tabb.

In one motion, all of the Agents reached into their suit coats and withdrew very large pistols.

Larry and Beyond reacted instinctively, with Larry activating the purple colored blade that he carried and Beyond spun the staff into the wrists of Agent Brown just as he brought his weapon to bare.

Red and Leo opened up then, with their battle rifles firing off three shot bursts into the trio of Agents. Amazingly, the Agents appeared to move _around_ the bullets, always dodging. Larry's lightsaber was no different as Agent Tabb brought his knee up in between Larry's saber, and planted it firmly into his stomach.

Forced backward a few steps, Larry gritted his teeth and tried to push forward. That is until, he found himself looking down the barrel of one of the Agent's guns. Flicking his saber up, the blade absorbed the first round, and then with a minor adjustment, he caught another bullet in the blade.

Red and Leo were reloading, as Tex ran forward with her own sword raised to attack, but she was just as easily repealed by a firm punch to the face after Agent Jones sidestepped her attack.

When she fell backward, Nikita came forward and easily disarmed the Agent with a quick blow to the wrist, and then somehow she managed to grab his snake like arms and fling him across the open field, away from the shuttle.

"Come on!" Nikita shouted, "We don't have much time! Get to the shuttle!"

Link had his own sword drawn and he started to run off toward the open shuttle door. The pilot, seeing what was going on, started to turn on the engines and was motioning frantically from the cockpit. Link took off for the open door, but then turned around and ran toward Epona, "I can't leave without my horse!" He called over his shoulder.

"Oh, well ain't that grand!" Fox shouted sarcastically. Dropping his rifle, he scooped down over the fallen Tex and picked up her sword, "Well I ain't about to dilly-dally," he shouted to Link as he shoved the fallen Tex over his shoulder, "I reckon' one of our number has already left this party," he motioned toward Tex with his other hand as he took off, "Cause she's not just out cold, she's been logged out."

Larry sighed in relief as he batted aside the last of the large 50 caliber bullets from Agent Tabb's gun. Larry rushed forward, saber already ready to slice the Agent in half, but the thing moved faster then Larry could strike. Finally, he managed to get a hit in on the Agent's chin just as the Agent brought around his left arm and nailed Larry across the right side of his face.

Sent sprawling, Larry dropped his lightsaber. He felt like he had just been hit with a bag full of bricks, "Get Link to the Shuttle!" Larry called to Leo and Red, who both nodded and began to put themselves between Link and the Agents.

Link by this time had finally jumped onto Epona's back and was riding the horse at a full gallop toward the still open door of the shuttle, leaning low to avoid being knocked off his mount by the door.

Beyond and Agent Brown were still exchanging blows, one for another, easily matching each other for speed, except that Beyond seemed confident, where as the Agent seemed frustrated. Finally, Beyond twirled his staff and knocked the Agent so hard across the face, that his sunglasses went flying off onto the grass.

The Agent's eyes widened as Beyond rammed his staff through the Agent's stomach. Quickly, the suited man disappeared, only to be replaced by a thin looking man with a moustache and tired worn hands. Ingo, the ranch hand replaced what had been Agent Brown.

"Run!" Beyond shouted as he took off for the open shuttle, just as Nikita and Fox reached it.

Larry was beginning to feel tired and still lightheaded from that last attack that had so easily hit him in the side of the face. Agent Tabb stared down at him now, and that was when Larry recalled just how to get out of his certain death.

Focusing on the Force, Larry pushed outward with it and focused the might of his attack on the Agent's chest. The Agent, who had been ready to stomp Larry's head in flew backwards and landed on its back, buying Larry time to get on his feet and make for the entrance of the shuttle.

Recalling his lightsaber, Larry felt like he was running through thick molasses, as though the air had somehow solidified. The world around him grew darker, but he could care less. All he cared about was reaching that shuttle.

Fifty yards, forty, thirty, he was beginning to feel the muscles in his legs give way to exhaustion. But somehow he kept running, stumbling along and too afraid to take his eyes off of the shuttle for a moment.

Twenty yards, and Link and the two ODSTs were through the door. At ten yards, Larry stumbled and fell so that he was crawling on his hands and knees to get to the door. Looking into the faces of his teammates, he spat the dirt out of his mouth, and continued to crawl faster. But the darkness around him began to close, and the last thing he saw was his own arm extending toward the door frame and toward safety.

But by the time he had gotten there, his five hour time limit had expired, and Larry Thompson, A.K.A Harrod the Barbarian, was forced to log out of DreamLand to wake up screaming in his apartment.


	20. Chapter 19: Cause and Effect

Chapter 19: Cause and Effect

Larry sat straight up in bed and leapt up, looking around the room for his attackers and for the shuttle that would take him to safety. Only then did he realize that he was no longer in the Dream, but awake.

Sitting down on his bed, Larry rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands before taking a few deep breaths. Then he remembered Delaine.

Jumping up so fast that his head began to spin, Larry quickly threw on his clothing and ran out the door, pulling his cell phone off of his desk he quickly dialed Delaine's number only to get her voice mail.

Slamming his apartment's front door, he took off down the sidewalks for Delaine's dorm room. She lived on campus of the small college that both went to, which happened to be across the street from Larry's apartments.

Knocking furiously on the side door of the dorm, Larry realized that he must look like a mad man, half dressed and pounding on the side of a girl's dormitory. Not caring though, Larry pushed past a surprised woman who was trying to leave the dormitory, when a resident advisor stuck her head out of her door.

"You're not supposed to be in here," the short woman said to Larry as he walked past her door, "Have you signed in at the front desk?"

Ignoring her, Larry walked quickly down the hallway, and began pounding on Delaine's door.

"Sir, you're going to have to leave right now," the RA said sternly as she came up to him, straightening her self to a full height that put her level with Larry's shoulder. Larry ignored her and continued to pound on the door.

"Sir…" the RA began again with furrowed brows, but at that moment the door opened to show a very surprised roommate standing in the doorway.

"Is Delaine here?" Larry asked anxiously.

"Yes," her roommate said, "She's been asleep all day, using DreamLand."

Larry pushed past her and walked into the gloomy room where Delaine was laying on her bed. Still sound asleep, Larry bent over her and began to shake her in an attempt to wake her, but she remained asleep.

"Not good," Larry muttered as he looked over her connections to DreamLand, attached to her temples.

"What is this all about?" the RA demanded with her arms crossed in the doorway.

"She shouldn't still be asleep," Larry said softly, not bothering to explain. He ran his fingers over the connections. Should he remove them? What would happen to her mind if he did? He knew nothing about this!

"What? I don't understand," the RA said, "Did she miss a class or something? Because if that was the case that was no reason for you to go…"

"She died in DreamLand," Larry said anxiously, "She should have woke up by now!"

The roommate and RA looked puzzled at Larry, "Did she wake up at all?" Larry asked the roommate.

"No," the roommate replied.

Larry worked his lips in indecision, angry at his inability to help Delaine at all, but also knowing that he had to get the people here who could help her.

"You need get help for her," Larry said, "She shouldn't be like this," Larry said and went on to explain the situation in greater detail.

* * *

Wicked sat on his horse, looking over the burnt ruins that had been Hyrule Castle Town. Apparently the guards of the city had not realized that the Stargate, which he and the armies of the Great Lord of the Dark had been using to travel around this galaxy in an attempt to track down the fools who had taken the Index from him.

It seemed that he had just missed them. It had taken some effort to get the information out of Impa, the general that had defended her now-dead king. She seemed to ignore everything that the myrddraal had done to here. Absolutely everything, which was unusual for any woman to ignore.

But then one of the trollocs had brought the girl, dressed in lace and silk, and the bloody mass that was all that was left of Impa visibly reacted more to the girl's mere presence then with anything else she had been through. This intrigued Wicked, and through a course of various experiments, he managed to get the information that he wanted out of both women.

So, the Clan Hunters had left this rock, and taken this world's _Ta'veren_ with them. That was probably why the world had fallen so easily, he suspected.

But there was something else that he wanted to find out about this world, something that had come up in a moment of conversation with the girl, the former princess of this realm. Ganondorf and the Sacred Realm, but beyond that the girl had gone silent.

No matter, there was only one place that could lead to the entrance of the Sacred Realm from here, and from there he would find Ganondorf.

* * *

Larry was calm, on the surface. In reality he was worried to death about Delaine as he explained the situation to the paramedics who had shown up to the RA's 911 call. Not seeing the urgency that Larry felt, they reluctantly took her too the hospital after failing to revive her using standard methods.

It was there that Larry found himself again explaining the situation to the doctors and other 'specialist' about her condition. Nobody had removed the DreamLand device from her head yet, because although they doubted what Larry was saying, nobody wanted to be the first one to prove him correct.

Finally they ran her through an MRI and CAT scan (after determining that she _did_ in fact have insurance) in an attempt to determine if she was actually in trouble. The results of those two tests were coming back now, and the doctors assigned to overlook Delaine's case had left the room for the time being, leaving Larry and Delaine alone in the hospital room.

For Larry, it was the first time he had stopped moving since he had woken from DreamLand, nearly two hours ago. He hoped to use this time to collect his thoughts, but the only thing he could think about was Delaine and desperately hoping that the situation was better then he had thought it would be.

All he kept thinking about, however, was how much he felt that he had messed up. He should have been able to stop this from happening in the first place, he was the first user who was a _Ta'veren_ wasn't he? So why couldn't he save her?

It was then that the door opened, and one man dressed in a gray suit and another dressed in a black suit stepped into the room, followed by two of the doctors that Larry had met earlier. The two men in suits looked at Larry with some surprise.

"Who is he?" gray suit asked.

"He's the young man who brought this girl in," the first doctor said as he looked up from a manila envelope that had Delaine's test results in it, "And a good thing he did too. She's in an artificially induced coma."

"Is that so?" gray suit asked, "Well it's a good thing that we showed up then."

"A coma?" Larry asked softly, "How?"

"That is why we are here," the man in the blue suit said, cutting off a reply from one of the doctors, "We are representatives of DreamLand Corporation. We will now be watching over and taking care of this person. You may leave now."

Larry got to his feet frowning, "What do you mean, you're from DreamLand Corporation? And I'm not going anywhere! Not until you explain to me how this happened and fix it," Larry said coldly.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice," blue suit said, "You will be leaving, one way or another," With those words two of the security guards for the hospital stepped into the room. Larry considered demanding an explanation out of the two suits, but he knew that he would most likely find an answer with little or no meaning.

Angrily, he walked out of the room, pushing past the doctors and security guards who then followed him out and made sure that he left the hospital grounds.

* * *

The guards of the palace inside of Luoyang could not stop the attack, though as much as they tried to stand in front of the way of the pair of attackers, but to no avail. Like lambs to the slaughter, the soldiers of Wei fell to the two infiltrators and with it, the palace of Wei.

The first attacker was of average height and build, but he had enormous ears. In his hands he held two weapons that looked like giant tuning forks, but with sharpened edges. He would strike the forks against each other, the floor, walls, and even use it as a slashing weapon. When he did this, sound he generated would do any number of useful things. They could overload an enemy's auditory system and render him unconscious or dead, or they could shatter glass and even some metals, should he need to.

The second attacker carried a pair of sickles, one black and the other blue and had the ability to use frost related attacks from both of the sickles. Unusual weapons, to be sure, for DreamLand. His short size and stature belied his speed and agility which made up for his lack of strength. Something that was unusual for the God Killers.

"Quickly Three!" the shorter one said as he ran past his clan member, "The Hero of Chaos must be just ahead."

"I'm trying, Five," Three said as he gasped for air as another squad of Wei warriors stepped into his path. Using the blades he carried and the sickles that Five carried, they easily destroyed the new recruits that had been hastily called up.

"They must be getting desperate," Five noted, "They're sending these youngsters to defend their lord."

"Indeed," Three said, before cocking his head, "Wait, more are coming down that corridor. I grow tired of this," he said before taking off down the corridor for the sleeping quarters of the Imperial Palace.

The last contingent of the Lord of Luoyang's bodyguards stationed themselves just outside of their Lord's apartments. Their lord was Cao Cao, the head of the Kingdom of Wei and the Hero of Chaos and, unknown to the soldiers guarding him, _Ta'veren_ inside of DreamLand.

Cao Cao himself was behind the small contingent of bodyguards, sword out and ready to face what would come against him.

"Only two of you?" Cao Cao said astonished, "Who sent you? Was it Sun Jian or Zhuge Liang? Liu Bei would not have resorted to this, but if it was his advisor…"

"We came by our own will," Number Five said.

"Then you shall find death, knowing that you sent yourself to your own grave!" Cao Cao called as he rushed forward with his small contingent of bodyguards. Before they got very far though, Number Three simply knocked both of his forkblades together, creating a sound that stopped all of the attacking soldiers in their tracks, clutching their ears in pain. After a few moments all of the attackers slipped into unconsciousness, and it was just a simple matter of picking up the unconscious form of Cao Cao and getting him out of Luoyang.

* * *

The Master Sword gleamed in the Pedestal of Time, held in with the blade driven deep into the rock in the center of the Temple of Time. Wicked walked forward to where the sword's handle struck straight up into the gloom that made up the Temple of Time. So this was where the Sacred Realm began, Wicked thought as he placed his hand on the hilt of the sword.

He pulled on the sword, and the weapon came out of the floor of the Temple easily. Blue light surrounded Wicked, so bright that he was forced to close his eyes against it. When he reopened his eyes, he gasped in disbelief. Not because the area around him had changed from a stone temple to an endless area of light, but because the Great Lord's presence had vanished from his mind.

That had never happened since he had been remade by the Great Lord, and it frightened Wicked. He knew that the Great Lord would know about this, he knew _everything_. So why…

"You…should not belong here," a voice said behind him, well he thought it was behind, but directions in this realm were not common.

Turning around, Wicked saw a tall man dressed in black armor with flaming red hair, looking absolutely lost and confused.

"You are Ganondorf?" Wicked asked dubiously, the man _he_ had heard about was not so…tame.

"Ganon?" the man said oddly, as though it were unfamiliar to him, "Yes, that was my name once, a long time ago. But what do names matter here, in the Sacred Realm with no endings and no way out…"

Wicked hoped that Ganondorf had not lost _all_ of his nerves, "I have come to find you, Ganondorf," Wicked said, "Because I have a way out for you, a way to get your vengeance."

_That_ got his attention, instantly Ganondorf's eyes focused and he became more stern looking, "How? I am sealed in here, there is no way out."

"I have a way," Wicked said, "But first you must obey me and the Great Lord, and together we will find a way out. Simply take my hand," Wicked explained as he put his hand out to Ganondorf.

The red haired villain considered Wicked's face, with his black beard and thick features before taking the man's hand. What choice did he have?

* * *

Number Three and Number Five arrived back at the God Killer's base carrying the _Ta'veren_, Cao Cao. The man was just now starting to come around, but he was still groggy as the two of them placed him inside of a carefully prepared cell, which resembled his palace quarters.

Going up to the command quarters, Number Three and Number Five were surprised to see only Number Six there, their leader.

"Where is Number One?" they asked the slim blonde woman who sat at the head of the table.

"Dead," she replied curtly, "And our brother helped assist in his death."

"What?" Five said in shock, "Number Two still lives?"

"Indeed," Number Six said, "But Number One is dead and he failed to complete his task," She said, more disgusted about his inability to complete his mission then about his death.

"So you mean…"

"Yes, one of the _Ta'veren_ required to kill a God is in the hands of others now, and one of those others is our former brother, Number 2."

"So what do we do?" Number 3 asked.

"We get the others that have not been captured, and then we go for the ones that have been captured," Number Six said, "It's the only thing we can do."

* * *

Larry closed the door to his apartment and slumped down on his couch in front of his television. Another three hours before he would be able to log back into DreamLand, and find out what had happened in his absence.

The world had turned upside down in the past few days and Larry did not know why that was the case. All he wanted to do was just play the game and have a good time, but that rarely seemed to be the case any more, the deeper he got into the world of DreamLand, the more he had to know what was happening and the more it began to affect him and the people around him.

Sighing, Larry picked up his calculus book. He _did_ have a lot of homework that he could get done in that three hour time period…

* * *

"The President will see you now Mr. Call," the Presidential Secretary said as John Call stood up in his newly tailored suit and ushered him into the Oval Office.

"Thank you Betsy," the President said from behind his desk, "You can step outside now."

Since John was not one of the President's cabinet or a trusted friend, a Secret Service member sat against the wall just next to the door. He would have stood in the corner, but there were no corners in the Oval Office.

"I have secured a place for you and the other world leaders to meet in secret," John said as he sat down and produced a brand new DreamLand device from his briefcase, "I have specially modified these new DreamLand devices to take you and the other world leaders to a meeting room that I picked out for you gentlemen. I have sent couriers to those other world leaders with the help of the State Department. I will leave your wonderful people at State to work out the time of the setting, but I can guarantee you that nobody will be able to enter this conference or eavesdrop in anyway. The only way anyone will get wind of this is if you or the other leaders talk about it, my word on that, Mr. President."

"Right to the point, Mr. Call," the President said, "I like that. Can I interest you in a cup of coffee or a doughnut? The food here is quite good."

"Thanks Mr. President, but I must decline. I have much work to do when I get back to my office, you understand."

The President, not used to being given status as secondary importance said, "Yes, of course. Is there anything else that I need to know?"

_Yes,_ John thought, but didn't say that out loud, "No, Mr. President, and if you have any questions about how to work the device, do not hesitate to call me directly. I gave my number to your secretaries."

"We can use this in the future, correct Mr. Call?" The President asked tapping the device with his hands.

"That is correct, Mr. President."

"Excellent."


	21. Chapter 20: Caught

Chapter 20: Caught

John Call stormed into his office, folding his umbrella under his arm. It was bad enough that he had to fly half way around the county to talk with the President on demand, but then the weather here was _always_ bad. Hoping that the news would be better upon arriving at his office, John Call, the CEO and founder of DreamLand sat down at his desk and began to overlook the newest reports concerning the newest expansions in DreamLand.

Five minutes into reading the new files, a knock came at his door. With a brisk, "Come in," the door opened to admit Todd Jacobs, the head of operations inside of DreamLand.

"Hello John," Todd said, "I'm afraid that there have been a few problems inside of the system since you've been gone."

John's interest perked up, "Oh? Problems?" he asked, not liking the sound of that. Most petty operational problems were not brought to the CEO's attention, but John Call had created DreamLand…

"The SeeDs from Balamb Garden have disappeared from our sensors. We're not sure where they are."

"Okay, that's not overly serious. I take it that there is something more pressing that you have for me?"

"Yes, it seems Hyrule's _Ta'veren_ has left his world, apparently on his own free will."

"What?" John asked, shocked, "How? They aren't programmed to leave their areas! That's not even possible!"

"It would appear that their coding has evolved to allow such a thing to take place, because it _has_ happened. Also, Cao Cao from the Three Kingdoms China has disappeared. We're not sure who was responsible for that, but we think that it is a small group of immensely powerful people. So far, all of the users inside of the system powerful enough to pull off such a kidnapping are not in any one clan. They're spread out, but we have a list of them together just in case we find a connection between them."

John groaned, _Ta'veren _missing out of their home worlds was not a good thing. It threw off the balance of power inside of the World of Dreams.

"How are the conditions inside of those realms?"

Todd shrugged, "China is not bad as of yet. I don't think that the lords of Wu and Shu have noticed Cao Cao's absence yet, but that is sure to change. As for Hyrule, things are bad. After the Hero of Time left the realm, an army of Trollocs came through the Stargate and destroyed most of Hyrule proper. They are lead by a user named Wicked, which is unusual in that…"

"Trollocs attack users on sight," John said dryly, "Yes I know. Can't you just delete the user from the system?" he asked irritated. The administrators should have spotted that a long time ago and dealt with it. Why where they bringing this to his attention now?

"Well yes, sir, we tried that. He can't be kicked or banned from the servers. We tried, but it seems that some immensely powerful program inside of DreamLand is protecting him. There's nothing our usual administrators can do. In addition to burning Hyrule to the ground, he and his army of Trollocs have broken Gannondorf out of the Sacred Realm…"

John sat straight up, "What!?"

"I know sir, I know, it looks pretty bad…"

"BAD?" John shouted, "This is a disaster! What are we going to tell people when they want to visit virtual Hyrule? That it's been turned into a deathtrap or turned to ash?! We can't just go fix it you know!"

"Yes sir, I know that, but there is good news," Todd said quickly, interrupting his angry boss.

"I'm all ears," John said, hoping that this was, for Todd Jacob's sake, _very_ good news.

* * *

Larry cracked he eyes open, back inside of DreamLand. He was sitting slouched at a desk surrounded by white walls. Sitting across the desk from him sat one of the Agents he had seen at the Lon Lon Ranch. Agent Tabb, if Larry remembered right.

"User Harrod, nice of you to join us," Agent Tabb said smugly, "I've been waiting to talk to you."

"Choke on it," Larry growled.

"Your hostile threats will get you no where, all I simply wish to do is ask you a few questions. That is all. Then we will see that you are released."

Larry remained silent; instead he glared at the bland white colored wall behind Agent Tabb's head.

"Very well, I'll just start asking you questions then. Why did you attempt to remove the _Ta'veren_ program titled the 'Hero of Time" from the area designated as 'Hyrule'?" Agent Tabb asked.

Larry did not reply and did not even open his mouth, just continued to stare at the wall just to the side of the Agent's head. Agent Tabb sighed slightly and stood up before he leaned over the table and put his fist firmly into Larry's face.

"You presume that you have rights here, but you are most mistaken. You have no rights here, because this is _my _world now."

"Don't presume too much," John Call said as he entered the room, "_You_ do not own this world, program. I do."

"Of course, creator," Agent Tabb said, "I was merely…"

"I know. I wrote your programming, remember?"

"I am aware."

John Call turned away from his minion and toward Larry, "Well, I figured our paths would cross again," he said to Larry, "I just hoped it wouldn't be on the other end of an administrative duty."

"Why am I here?" Larry asked, more willing to talk now that the actual creator of DreamLand, not a mere program.

"You are here because you broke one of the rules of DreamLand, that you promised to up hold before you decided to enter this world," John said, "You have removed a _Ta'veren_ from their world. The Hero of Time keeps balance between good and evil in his world, and most worlds have a key person or group of people like this, and it is illegal to remove them from those worlds because of the danger that will result."

"A danger to who?" Larry asked, "As far as I'm concerned, this whole world is dangerous. One of my friends is in a coma, thanks to this wonderful invention of yours."

John didn't show any reaction to that statement, instead he said, "A slight problem with the system. Your friend will be fine. Now why did you remove the Hero of Time from Hyrule? Placing it and anybody near it in mortal danger."

Larry was reluctant, but he had a number of questions that he was sure that the administrator of DreamLand would be able to answer so he began to explain, "One of friends left us on Nar Shaddaa with this final message," he began and proceeded to explain the whole story, from Allied's message to their traveling inside of Hyrule and their encounters with the God Killers, to the attack by the Agents and Delaine's coma.

"That fool Allied is a liar," John Call snarled at the conclusion of his story, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but all you have done is endanger a lot of users and NPCs needlessly. But since you have done this with faulty information, I will let you go back into the DreamLand so long as you return the Hero of Time to his proper place. He may yet be able to undo the things that you have done."

Larry thought that over, and then something occurred to him, "That would be great, but there is just one problem."

"Oh?" John Call said with a raised eyebrow.

"I never told you Allied's name."

John was silent and trying to come up with an excuse, but Larry could already sense that he had found truth. He did not need the Force to tell him that.

"You are the one that the God Killers are trying to kill, aren't you? And the one that Allied warned me about, the reason I need to gather the other _Ta'veren._ It's to stop you."

John smiled coldly, "Very good, _Ta'veren_. You're very insightful. I told you that I wanted your help, but it seems that your path is destined to make you a sacrifice and not a savior. Too bad.

"I'm afraid that your condition will be far worse then that of your friend, when you are found. For you see, I cannot allow you to…"

He was cut off as the whole room shook. With a questioning look he turned to Agent Tabb, who had been standing in the corner, silent.

"Find out what that was," John ordered, "Quickly."

The Agent nodded its head slightly and walked toward the door, but just as he was about to open the door, it exploded into the room with a loud _crack_ of wood. The Agent flew backwards and slammed up against the far wall.

Men and women dressed in blue uniforms swarmed into the room wielding an assortment of different weaponry. John reacted immediately, striking the first man through in the face hard enough that Larry heard the man's neck break and he crumpled into a heap. By then, the Agent had regained its ground and was starting to open fire on the swarm of attacking soldiers.

He only got a few rounds off before a trench cloaked man wearing a cowboy hat that Larry recognized blew the Agent away with the shotgun that he carried. The Agent dissolved into thin air and Irvine Kinneas then shifted his aim and began open fire on John Call, who was surrounded by a sea of Irvine's soldiers now. Larry had taken cover underneath the desk that was in the center of the room, but he knew it was only a temporary refuge. These people must be SeeDs, because of their uniform and because of who led them, and the last time Larry had seen SeeDs they had been trying to kill him.

Of course, as luck would have it, the desk did not remain a good hiding place for long. The room began to change from a dull white-washed room into something larger and more expansive. In fact, it just seemed to be a linear plane, with no landmarks or features. And the desk disappeared, leaving only John Call, Larry, and a small army of SeeDs.

The SeeDs, however, had not taken any notice of Larry but were intently attacking John. Every time a bullet would fly near John or a sword be swung at him, it bounced off as though it had struck an invisible barrier. What was even more unnatural about that was that it happened in silence, as though the bullets and the force behind them were sucked into a black hole.

With a cry of "Traitor!" several of the SeeDs charged at once, but with a wave of his hand all of them were torn limb from limb, ending their charge in a bloody scream of pain. Larry was trying to find a way out of the 'room' when something hit him in the back of his head. Looking down at his feet while he rubbed the back of his head, he realized it was his lightsaber.

More and more SeeDs died, until eventually Irvine was the only one left his face grim. He kept firing from the hip again and again until finally, the shotgun just clicked every time he pulled the trigger. John walked forward, a calm expression on his face. Irvine just stared at the man with blank eyes until John struck out with his open hand, and severed Irvine's head from his body. The cowboy toppled to the ground, and disappeared.

John stared at the spot where Irvine had died for a couple moments, his jaw working silently. Larry ignited his lightsaber, and the purple blade lighting up the space around him. John turned to Larry and frowned.

"How did you get that?" he asked, and then shrugged, "No matter, you won't survive long enough…"

Suddenly somebody materialized behind John and lashed out with a blue gunblade, similar to the one Allied used to use, but a different color. Larry recognized the man as the leader of the SeeDs, Squall Leonhart. His blue colored blade lashed out and struck John Call in the back, and he cried out in pain.

Spinning around John managed to block another strike by Squall, and the gunblade disappeared from Squall's hands. Larry took that opportunity to plunge his lightsaber into John's back. The creator of DreamLand cried out and then disappeared from the room.

Squall stared at Larry with a blank look on his face, and then gave a quick nod and what might have been a salute before the floor underneath Larry and Squall became engulfed in flames and disappeared, and the two fell into an abyss.


	22. Chapter 21: Trapped

Chapter 21: Trapped

Larry fell into the sea of never ending darkness, unsure about what was around him or where he was. He was dimly aware of Squall falling along beside him, but he paid the SeeD no mind. Suddenly out of the darkness a light flashed and after a moment of blindness, Larry could see land below him.

The land below him was vast, and Larry could see a large river below him, with a massive island in the center. In the center of this island, a large structure that looked like a massive tower sprouted out of the ground. Around this tower walls went off in a perfect circle, making the whole area look like the spokes of a wheel.

This was all he had time to take account of as the wind began to blow into his eyes, forcing them to tear up and blind him. That was when he began to panic, and he cried out in fear, hoping against hope that somebody –anybody- could save him. Blinking his eyes frequently, Larry gasped as he realized that the water below him was only a few hundred feet away. In desperation, Larry called on the Force and threw his hand out in front of him, and he paused in the air for a moment before he continued his fall and smacked in to the water, losing consciousness.

* * *

Of course it had to happen somewhere. There is always a beginning, an index patient that tells the beginning of the epidemic. In this case, her name was Jane Kuhn, and she was a sixteen year old high school student. Her mother, a woman named Helen, had failed to rouse her daughter from bed and gone in to investigate. When she arrived, she discovered that daughter was not only asleep, but still plugged into her newest possession: the DreamLand device.

This was not the first time that Jane had overslept while playing that game, so Helen Kuhn knew exactly what to do to forcibly eject her daughter from DreamLand and get her up in time to make the bus to her class. When she punched the proper button necessary to eject her daughter, nothing happened.

Frowning, Helen pushed the button again, and then a third time. There was no visible reaction either in the system or from her daughter, Helen began to get concerned. She knew the dangers of removing the DreamLand device while the player was still plugged into the system, so she decided to call up a DreamLand representative with the phone number printed on the side of the device itself.

When the caller claimed that she had never heard of somebody not waking up when prompted to do so by an outside source, Helen slammed the phone down and stomped away before dialing the family's doctor, who in turn realized the seriousness of the situation and alerted the authorities from there.

That was all that was needed to get the ball rolling.

* * *

The President of the United States attempted to keep his face blank, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to do as he heard more and more of the words that came out of the Chinese representative's mouth. Oh, using DreamLand had seen like such a simple and easy way to meet securely and without pomp and circumstance, being able to meet behind closed doors and get things done without politics, but he had been wrong. Very wrong.

The President was beginning to realize that no matter what, politicians and diplomats would always be the same. Whether in the real world, over the phone, or in some fictional high-tech hologram, they will always act the same way.

Case in point was the Chinese leader, who was fervently denying that they was anything out of the ordinary about their recent and abrupt war games that were taking place in the Sea of Japan, no matter what military and intelligence experts thought.

The French and the Russians were just as annoying, despite their uneasy alliance through NATO, who used every available opportunity to ridicule the American foreign policy. As if they could do better!

Suddenly the Chinese leader stopped talking, and the President jumped in the gap. One nice thing about DreamLand was that the words spoken were automatically translated through computer program in perfect accents, making it appear as though every representative were fluent in each other's language.

"I am sorry, but I believe that I must ask for a recess. It is nearly three in the morning in Washington, but I will be sure to take what you say to heart, Chairman," he said to the Chinese leader.

Germany and Japan quickly put in their own agreements, and South Korea was quick to follow. All were extremely tired of hearing what China thought about America's implications.

"Very well," China said, "We shall pick up this discussion in two weeks?"

The President nodded and began to log out of DreamLand, but nothing happened when he completed his procedure. Frowning, he tried to log out again, but couldn't.

"What the…"

He looked around and all of the leaders where looking at one another, "Why can't we leave?" France asked, "This has never happened before."

* * *

John Call was furious and in pain. Those two factors forced his office workers to shrink back from him in fear as he exploded out from his office, slamming the door open.

"Find him!" John Call snarled as he jumped on his Director of Security (In Game), "Find that bastard who plays Harrod the Barbarian, that filthy stinking _Ta'veren_!"

"Y…yes…sir!" the chief said and quickly turned his eyes to his computer screen, as though he were really trying to locate the person on the screen itself.

"Sir?"

John turned to see Todd Jacobs standing with his arms extended with a folder in it, "We've got problems," he said.

"Yuna!" Rikku shouted in alarm as Number Three struck at her with one of his forked blades, "Run!"

The Al Bhed girl tried to stall the attackers from taking her cousin, but it was no use. Another of the God Killers came up behind her, and struck her over the head using a very heavy hammer, and Rikku crumpled.

The High Summoner Yuna unleashed a small barrage of spells at her attackers, but they only slowed down the onslaught of her attackers, and Yuna turned and ran up the sandy path toward her village of Besaid, on the southern most island in Spira.

"She's getting away!" Number Three shouted as he took off after her.

"She won't get far!" Number Four shouted, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder, "Number six is at the village!"

Yuna ran on and on, hiking her skirts up above the knee so that she would not get tangled up in them while running. Wakka, she had to find Wakka, he would help her. She passed underneath a waterfall and up a hill. At the top of the hill, she stopped and caught her breath.

When she looked up, her eyes instantly caught smoke coming up from the valley where her home was nestled. Crying out, she continued to run down the hill and into her village, where a nightmare greeted her eyes.

Besaid was on fire, a goodly portion of the tents that the islanders slept in were ablaze and people were split between attempting to flee the village and fight the fires. She caught sight of Wakka giving orders, when a small man made eye contact with her.

She knew every single one of the villagers by face and she knew that this man was not one of them.

"Wakka!" she cried out and the red headed man whipped his head around. It was at that instant that the short man began to run at Yuna, a scythe in either hand. Wakka saw the man coming and stepped in front of him, and the smaller man bounced off of Wakka's enormous girth. He really had been putting on weight since Lulu had become pregnant…

Yuna ran, hoping that Wakka could hold off that other attacker just long enough for her to get away. Running past burning tents and screaming people, the High Summoner sought frantically for escape. The only place she knew that was safe now was the Temple, and maybe she could barricade herself in…

She heard a cry, and glanced backward just to see Wakka fall over backwards, blood spraying from his chest and a very grim man advancing on her. Scrambling up the steps, Yuna slammed the door shut behind her and bared the entrance.

* * *

"Sir?" the Director of Security (In game) said to John, "I have not found Harrod yet, but there is a situation in Spira…"

"Get the Agents down there," John said gruffly. His back still _hurt!_ That shouldn't have happened.

"You don't want to know the situation?"

"NO!" John shouted back, "Just deal with it! That's what I pay you for, right?"

"Y..yes sir!"

* * *

"She's locked herself inside," Number five said.

"Pity," Number four said as she stopped pounding on the door with her large mallets. The muscular woman acted as the God Killer's blacksmith, and she was not only one of the best smiths in DreamLand, but she had the body to match.

"How do we flush her out?" Number three asked.

"Easy, we smoke her out," Number four replied as she began to move toward one of the burning tents.

"What if she dies?" Number three asked, "Number six will not be pleased."

"She won't," Number four said curtly as she grabbed a flaming timber.

"I would stop that if I were you," one of the Agents said who had just materialized in the center of the village.

"Or else you will be made to stop," the second Agent said.

The God Killers turned around away from the village to stare at the advancing Agents with a look of disgust on their faces.

* * *

Larry gasped as he sat upright in a reflexive motion. The world spun around him and he frantically tried to focus and recall where he was. Next to him sat Squall, facedown in the sandy beach that the two were sitting on.

Quickly, he sat up and looked around him. Across the lake was an enormous walled city, in the center of which sat a white tower which shot straight up into the sky, like a shaft of bone. Around the tower was a city wall

Getting groggily to his feet, Larry looked across the lake at the city chewing on the side of his cheek to attempt to get his thoughts together. The area around him was open and grassy, and in the distance Larry noticed a large bridge that spanned across the river, like a piece of ribbon which spanned across the distance.

Oddly, there was no traffic on the roads that were nearest to Larry, even the village at the foot of the bridge seemed to be closed up and disserted. Despite the small town's abandoned look, he decided that he would start looking for help there and if he could move on to the larger city that was across the island.

Remarkably all of his gear was still intact, and he was still dressed in his Clan Hunter's olive drab uniform and black boots. A cold wind whipped across the open plain and Larry shivered, a reminder that he had just taken a plunge into a very swift and deep river. Producing his PDA he flipped it open to check how much time he had left in game. To his astonishment, the numbers flashed "0:00" over and over again.

"That can't be right…" he muttered as he stared wide-eyed into the display.

"What's not right?" came a cold voice from behind where Larry was standing, and Larry turned to see Squall standing on his feet, rubbing his head with his hands. Larry snatched up his lightsaber and kept his finger over the activator button, relaxing only slightly when Squall made no move to attack him.

"Nothing," Larry said quickly, shoving his PDA into his pocket.

Squall remained silent, studying Larry intently, "I remember you. You were the soldier on the ring that SeeD first went to. Why are you here?"

Larry shrugged, "I could ask you the same thing. I saw you in that…room with John Call. You and a bunch of your SeeDs."

Squall nodded briskly, "We had tracked a traitor to there, you just happened to be there at the same time. And then I ended up here."

"Why have you been tracking our clan?" Larry asked bluntly.

Squall's face hardened, "You ask a lot of questions. I'll ask one, what were you doing with the traitor?"

Larry consented, "I was captured by his goons for doing something that I believed right."

"What did you do with my interpreter?" Squall asked again, "She was unaccounted for after Irvine caught up with you on Nar Shaddaa."

Larry searched his memory, and then remembered the interpreter that was on the _Pride_ which had given him some confusing gibberish about Allied being John Call and a traitor or something. Well at least "John Call" and "traitor" was beginning to make more sense, "You mean Emma Varch? She's fine, being held onboard the _Pride_ in the detention center."

Squall nodded curtly, "I won't hurt you, for now. We need to get out of here and go somewhere where we can do more useful things. We might try that city," Squall said pointing across the river.

"You still didn't answer my question, why were you tracking my clan?" Larry asked not lowering his saber.

Squall sighed, "It doesn't matter now. We were paid to gather the Index by a clan, they paid us a remarkable amount of money, in gold."

"Who?"

Squall rolled his eyes, "They called themselves OX, but I'm sure that was a fake name. We met with two different people, first one was a big bald headed guy with a big axe. The other was a woman, can't say much more then that."

Larry recognized the description of the bald headed man and dropped his saber, "You are willing to work with me until we get out of here, right?"

Squall's face said that he'd rather fight twenty tonberries at once, but he nodded his agreement, "We should get into the city, if possible," he said. Larry lowered his saber and attached it to his hip before agreeing.

* * *

"This couldn't have come at a worse time," John said rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands.

"Not only is Hyrule lying in waste now, but the Three Kingdoms are exploding into sectional violence worse then anything seen since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, with the forces of Sun Jian and Liu Bei fighting over the splintered Wei territory. On top of that, it would appear that the situation in Spira has worsened with the burning of the entire village of Besaid."

"I thought the Agents had taken care of that situation," John said surprised.

"No, sir. They've been having…difficulty containing the situation."

"Show me," he said turning to where the large screen television was built into the wall. It flickered to life to show the village of Besaid burning. The camera focused on three figures standing outside of the temple, which was also in flames. No Agents were anywhere in sight, only the motionless forms of the NPCs that inhabited the village.

"That's…impossible!" John gasped, "Nobody can defeat an administrator!"

The rest of the table was silent, their eyes downcast toward the table.

"Very well," John said, "I'll address that in a moment. How many people are stuck in DreamLand now?"

"Several thousand," the Vice President of Operations noted, "That number will continue to rise as the people should time out, but they will remain in. In three hours all of DreamLand will be stuck inside of the game."

John Call grimaced, "So if I or any other admin attempts to log in to clear this situation, then we'll be stuck inside too, right?"

"That appears to be the case sir, yes."

"Can somebody give me some good news then?" John asked furiously.

Only silence answered him.

* * *

Slamming his door behind him, John Call walked into his office tiredly. Between the Harrod _Ta'veren_ getting away from him and the premature springing of his trap, it seemed that everything had gone wrong quickly.

"I do have some good news for you," the cloaked man said from the corner of the room.

John started slightly and then turned to look at his visitor a little more carefully, "You dress like that even out of the game, Outlaw?" he asked.

The mercenary shrugged, "I like it."

"What good news?"

"Most of the leaders that you wanted are trapped inside of the system as well as the rest of the users," he said quickly, "But I was surprised that this happened so soon. Has something moved up the timetable?"

John Call smiled a little bit, "Apparently, but it was not triggered on purpose. Soon most of those residing in DreamLand will not find themselves in a dream, but in a nightmare. I have a little matter I need you to attend to. You and whoever you need to use will be rewarded for it."

Outlaw licked his lips nervously, "You want me to go back into DreamLand? How do I know that I won't get trapped in along with the rest of them?"

John Call sighed, "You really think I didn't build a back door into the system?" He produced Outlaw a card and handed it to him, "Put that information into your device, and you can come and go as you please."

Outlaw looked uneasily at the card, "What do you need me to do?"

"Do you remember that clan who took the index, and the Jedi who was with them?"

"Of course."

"Find the Jedi and kill him."

* * *

It had taken a long time, but finally the God Killers had gathered into their ranks the third of their sought after _Ta'veren_. Yuna the High Summoner was found in the Besaid Temple, on the verge of death from the flames that had collapsed the temple.

Luckily for the God Killers, they managed to revive the fallen summoner and take her alive to their base, where they threw her in a cell that resembled a tent that the villagers had used on Besaid. Next to her was Cao Cao, the former King of Wei, and another important _Ta'veren_ inside of DreamLand. Only a handful remained in the game to keep balance against the forces of chaos and anarchy that were beginning to spread in certain areas of the game.

Already clans who had stationed themselves inside of Hyrule and the Three Kingdoms were either dead, holed up in their bases, or else attempting to evacuate the area by Stargate or in the starships that they had gathered. Refugees to steady areas of the DreamLand like Coruscant and Cyrodiil were already starting to notice an influx of newly orphaned users and clans fleeing other areas of the game.

But already rumors were beginning to spread about a lot of things, that the reason nobody could log out of the system was due to a team of hackers paid by the CIA to shutdown DreamLand. That Hyrule was burnt to the ground by a horde of orcs and goblins, and that the Hero of Time had been killed. That Balamb, Esthar, Shinear, and countless other nations had been blown off the map by invaders and beasts. Things were defiantly uneasy in the World of Dreams, but few people realized that they were about to go from bad to worse. Much worse.


	23. Chapter 22: Escape

Chapter 22:

Larry and Squall made good time going upstream toward the nearest bridge and the city around it. There was nobody around, and the only sound Larry could hear was the sound of running water from the river. A crow cawed ominously from its perch in a nearby tree, and Larry shivered softly.

"Where is everybody?" he wondered out loud.

Squall shrugged, "Who cares. They'll be in that town, so it doesn't matter if they're out here in the countryside."

Larry raised an eyebrow at Squall's uncaring demeanor, he had a really bad feeling about the lack of people in the countryside. It was unnatural to see no signs of life anywhere in DreamLand, there were always users or NPCs everywhere.

Finally, they came to a small path that lead to the closest village, and they made much better time getting into the village. When they neared it, however, it appeared just as deserted as the rest of the countryside had been. All the doors and windows closed and boarded up, and another desolate wind blew through the village.

"Nobody's here," Larry said.

"Clearly," Squall said crossing his arms, "Something's wrong."

Suddenly Larry heard a whinny of a horse, and he looked toward the river to see a whole group of men on horseback coming down the bridge and into the town. Unsure about how to react to the sudden presence of the men, Larry quickly scooped up his lightsaber after he realized that they were in uniform, and armed.

Squall simply crossed his arms and leaned up against a wall, cool blue eyes following the men as they came toward him. The mounted men spotted the two and began shouting and pointing until an older man with a pair of golden knots tied to the shoulders of his uniform. The men quickly approached Larry and Squall and encircled them, weapons drawn.

"Now who might ye be?" The man with the golden knots on his shoulders asked with an extremely thick accent, "And why do ye be in the town of Jualdhe? Do ye not know that Tar Valon be unda' siege! The city do be evacuated to the main island, and there do na be anybody outside the city but tha rebels, so now, tell me, who are ye?"

Larry chewed over everything the man had said before carefully answering, "My name is Harrod. I'm a traveler who did not realize that this city was under a siege, and who might you be, good sir?" Larry began, deciding on trying to be polite.

"My name do be Jerian Majer, Captain in the Tar Valon guards, blessed be the White Tower and Elaida do Avriny a'Roihan, The Watcher of the Seals, the Flame of Tar Valon, the Amyrlin Seat. But I do ha' a hard time believin' that you did na know about the Tar Valon siege, and I have na' seen two people of your dress before. So, I'll ask ye again, who are ye?" the guard captain said, and the soldiers on either side of him began to shift uncomfortably in their saddles and look around them.

"Travelers," Squall said simply, "As my companion said."

Larry wished that Squall was not trying to stare down this Jerian Majer, but there was nothing he could do about that now. The Guards Captain snorted loudly, "In those clothes? I doubt it. You've come from nearby, and you're up to no good. You're comin' with us ta the White Tower."

Larry braced to ignite his lightsaber, but Squall cleared his throat and Larry looked at him oddly. The expression in his face told Larry to stay his hand, and Larry quickly shoved his lightsaber back into his uniform, carefully hidden from full view.

"Whatever," Squall said.

"We were heading that direction anyway," Larry said casually, "An armed escort would be nice."

* * *

"And I say that we gotta go back for Harrod!" Fox shouted, "He's as good as dead if we don't go!"

"You'll all die if you go back there!" Nikita shouted back, "Hyrule is crawling with Trollocs! Plus we need to gather the rest of the _Ta'veren_! How can we do that if we're attempting to find a needle in a haystack? There's no guarantee that he's even alive!"

"We have to try!" Tex exclaimed loudly, her hand on her sword in a white knuckled grasp.

"No!" Nikita stated firmly, "And that's final!" Standing up behind her desk, she turned and opened the door to her office, showing them that the meeting was over, "We're going to be at the Westlands soon, which we believe that the next _Ta'veren_ is at. I suggest that you get your team together and prepare for the next mission. Alright?"

Fox opened his mouth ready to argue again, but he closed it after he watched Nikita raise her eyebrow. Tex threw up her hands and stomped out of the room, with Fox in tow.

When the door closed behind Tex and Fox, the two immediately set off for the squad's 'sleeping' quarters. They would want to hear the verdict as soon as possible, but both Tex and Fox did not want to be the bearer of bad news.

"Why'd ya have to go an' stalk out like that?" Fox demanded, "I woulda' brought her around eventually."

Tex stopped in shock, "You would have brought her around huh? I doubt that even Harrod himself would have been able to persuade that stubborn woman with a mind trick, much less a redneck who can't even put a proper sentence together!" she shouted at him.

"Now wait just a gosh darned second! Just cause I'm a hick don't mean I can't argue for something I want. You don't gotta go of and blame me like that!"

Tex pulled herself up to her full height and moved as though she was going to point his finger into Fox's chest, but at that moment a masked man stepped out of an adjoining corridor with a drawn rifle. Fox's eyes widened as he and the gunmen's gaze met, and he quickly grabbed Tex by the shoulders, and threw her to the floor.

The gunman opened fire then, spraying the corridor with rounds. Fox, who was still standing an flat footed, was unable to move out of the way. Flinching as the bullets hit him, Fox fell to the floor screaming in pain.

Tex instantly reacted, producing her sword while she rolled out of her fall. Then as she came up on her feet running toward the gunman. The gunman instantly shifted fire concentrating on her, but Tex was too close by then and knocked the gun out of the man's hands.

Pulling her sword back, she slid it onto the man's throat. Then she pulled off the mask off of the man's head. Surprised, she realized that the person she was looking at was Whitestar, her former commander before the mutiny.

The albino man looked down at her, his face grim.

"What are _you_ doing here!?" Tex demanded.

He looked at her with pale emotionless eyes, "To take back what was ours," he said. With a quick movement, he produced a pistol and pointed it directly into Tex's stomach. He smiled and just as Tex frantically moved to push her sword into his head, his head exploded in a splatter of blood.

The rest of Whitestar's body slumped to the ground, and Tex numbly turned to see Fox sitting with his rifle raised carefully in his hands from his position on the ground. Nodding in satisfaction to himself, his eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped backwards jaw clenched to keep from screaming.

Then suddenly, and almost comically late, an alarm klaxon began to resound throughout the ship, along with a mechanical voice, "Intruder alert! Battlestations! Intruder alert! This is not a drill! I repeat…"

"Well ain't that just lovely," Fox said through gritted teeth, "Was that Whitestar? I thought that albino freak seemed familiar."

"Yes, it was," Tex said putting up her sword as she leaned over him, "Comeon, we gotta get you to see the Doc."

"For once, I won't argue with ya," Fox said grimacing in pain.

* * *

"What's going on?" Link asked looking around frantically.

"I don't know," Section admitted, "It sounds like someone got onboard who we didn't want on."

"How can they do that? Aren't we flying?" Link asked.

"That's right, but it's possible to…" Section was cut off with the sound of gunfire erupting outside. Red and Leo reacted instantly, throwing their helmets onto their heads and chambering the first rounds into their weapons, flicking the safeties off of their rifles and heading out into the hallways.

Beyond looked up, at the first sounds of gunfire and then positioned himself in-between Section, Link, and the door.

"Find out who it is," he said sternly to Section. _I hope it's not my brothers…another conflict with them again would be too soon. _

Section quickly produced her MUT and began tapping away into it, quickly accessing the surveillance systems inside of the _Pride_. Flipping through the screens she quickly found the firefight that was just outside of the door and down the hallway. About half a dozen heavily armed and masked men taking cover around corners, firing shots at Red and Leo and the quickly forming force of people that were attracted to the firefight.

"Who is it?" Beyond asked, looking briefly over his shoulder, "Can you recognize anyone?"

"No, they're all masked," Section said.

"Great," Beyond said, "We need better security…"

"You're telling me," Section said, rolling her eyes. Flipping through the security screens again until something else caught her eye. Moving unmolested through the ship was another column of unarmed men, about a dozen of them. One of them had his face uncovered though, and seemed unconcerned about who was in front of him, as though he was not expecting any trouble.

"I think I recognize their leader though," Section said, "But I can't remember his name."

"What's he doing here?" Beyond asked as the sounds of gunfire came closer.

* * *

Lt. Commander Fury was not in a good mood to begin with. First the botched operations in Hyrule, the fact that they were run from the system administrators, and now they were under attack. As though to top it all off, he was not sure why he was still in-game, even though his time had expired over an hour ago.

Fury picked up his two HE pistols and checked the sites and magazines before stepping out of his bunk. He would have to make for the bridge, because that was where these borders would be coming in from. He still wondered just how they had managed to get onboard.

Walking swiftly, he was amazed that he was the only one in the halls. But then again it was unusual for there to be anybody but officers on this level of the deck anyway, and there was no nearby gunfire.

Turning the last corridor to the bridge, Fury's eyebrows rose as he saw the backs of large group of heavily armed soldiers moving swiftly down the gilded corridor. Their rear guard jumped as Fury suddenly appeared from around the corner.

"Contact to the rear!" the man shouted and raised his rifle. The other team members reacted instantly, ducking and spinning bringing their guns to bear. Fury reacted just as quickly, pulling both of the pistols out of his holsters and leveling them at the rearguard, quickly firing two shots from each pistol. The rearguard slumped forward, dead.

That was all he had time to do before he had to jump back behind the corner again, bullets pinging past him and into the walls. Waiting for the fire to die down some, Fury considered his options. He was trying to get to the bridge, where he was sure somebody was at. His problem was the obvious: a bunch of armed men in his way. Suddenly the shooting stopped and in that silence came a voice:

"Is that you Fury? I recognized your shooting."

That voice hit something in Fury's memory, but it had been so long…

"Recon? Is that you?" Fury shouted, "What the hell are you doing!?"

"Look Fury, it doesn't have to end like this. All we want you to do is give us what was ours to begin with, and we'll leave you be," Recon shouted.

"What are you talking about?" Fury asked angrily, "You left! You mutinied! None of this belongs to you!"

"The Index Fury! Give us that!"

Fury was shocked, he did not even know where the Index was being kept due to its extremely dangerous and addictive nature.

"I can't do that Recon!" Fury shouted as he popped out into the corridor and fired off a couple shots down the hallway before ducking back to avoid the return fire.

"I'm sorry it has to come to this then," Recon said and Fury could hear the sounds of advancing footsteps. Breathing easily, Fury eased his last frag grenade out of his pocket, pulled the pin, and flung it down the hallway.

A second later, the grenade detonated sending fragments down the hallway. Fury heard screams and a lot of shouting before he ducked out into the corridor again. The first two people were already limp and not moving while the next three were rolling around on the floor in pain. He quickly fired two rounds into each of the writhing attackers before returning his attention to the rest of them. The remainder of Recon's squad was in a retreat toward the bridge, firing blindly behind them.

Keeping low, Fury picked out Recon because he was the only one who had not covered his face. He figured the mutineers had died at Halo, but he supposed he had been wrong. Firing carefully at the retreating Recon, but he managed to avoid each shot until Fury had to pause to reload his pistols.

Suddenly the remainder of Recon's squad turned around the moment that they reached the door and trained their weapons on Fury. Instantly getting in the prone, he picked up the last body in the hallway and used it as cover. Bullets bounced all around Fury's legs and arms, and he knew that this was an extremely bad place to be.

Suddenly, the bridge door opened and Nikita appeared along with Bobby and James. The three High Command members caught the attackers off guard and they all swiveled to bring their weapons to bear on them, but Nikita simply grabbed the closest intruder's weapon, hit him in the face with it knocking him down and then fired off three precise rounds into the masked man's face.

James flung balls of fire from his hands, which caught their clothing on fire. Bobby had what looked like a fire axe in his hands, and quickly swung it down onto a man's head as though he were chopping wood, splitting the man's skull. Fury used the distraction to come out from behind his cover and open fire again. Finally, with an amazing amount of luck, the last remaining member of the attack force was Recon.

The man seemed utterly unconcerned, "Just give me what belongs to us and I won't have to hurt anybody."

"You're joking right?" James snarled, his hands beginning to glow blue, "You're the only one left!"

"Perhaps," he said shrugging, and then he produced a large round sphere, "But if I die, then so will all of you!" he shouted and with a flick of his wrist, the silvery orb began to glow.

Reacting instantly, Fury, who had been moving up on Recon the whole time, pushed Nikita and James backward into Bobby and together they fell through the bridge door. With his other hand he fired a shot into the bridge door controls, shorting out the circuits. The blast door slid shut, and Fury quickly tackled Recon to the floor. The orb fell out of Recon's hands and began to chime and flash quicker and quicker.

"You were never going to get your hands on the index," Fury said grinning. Recon only looked shocked, and that was when the corridor erupted into smoke and flame, consuming the bodies of both of the entangled men, and unknowingly to them, their souls.

* * *

Larry felt a sudden chill, and he had some idea as to what that meant. Something had gone wrong somewhere, probably with somebody that he knew. He had been getting those feelings a lot lately, as though something was happening to everybody in DreamLand all at once, and nobody knew why.

"You feel that?" he asked Squall, who sat across from him in the cell.

"What?" Squall asked, "I didn't feel anything."

"Nothing, forget it then," Larry said, slumping back against the wall and surveyed his surroundings again. It was a typical cell, crossed iron bars with torches as the only light. The only padding on the floor of the cell was a thin layer of straw that was laid out to provide the barest amount of comfort possible.

The guards had done a very thorough job of searching Squall and Larry, and had taken almost everything from them. Although they did not know what it was, they had taken both Larry's lightsaber and PDA. Not that breaking out would be difficult, having the Force on his side. He was also sure that Squall had something hidden up his sleeve, but Larry was not sure what.

Though he had little idea of where he was at, he knew that he was in the basement of the large white tower that was in the middle of the island. He had been brought in through a rear entrance which lead through the kitchen and into the dungeons past a number of surprised looking women.

What really concerned Larry was what was happening around him, and what was happening to the clan. With his PDA gone, he had no real way to communicate with his squad or his clan. In addition, he was fairly certain that John Call would be searching all over to find him, and he was in no condition to fight a school girl with a pen knife, much less a system administrator, or John Call himself.

Suddenly the in the distance, Larry heard the sound of a heavy door scraping open. It had been the first time he had heard any such door open, the guards had all left the way that they had come in. A few minutes later, a short woman dressed entirely in white clothing with dark hair and dark eyes came down into the cells. She glanced serenely into the cell, and the walked on to the cell next to theirs.

"Egwene!" came a startled woman's voice from around the corner, "So good to see you!"

That was all Larry could hear because the two women's voices dropped below what he was able to hear. He exchanged looks with Squall, but the leader of SeeD only shrugged and continued to study the wall across from him.

A few minutes passed, and Larry heard the heavy scraping of the door again, and another woman, dressed in the same garb as the first woman who came through. This one was carrying platters of food and a large pitcher of what Larry could only hope was clean water.

Blinking suddenly, Larry realized that he had never been hungry in DreamLand. Not even when he had been hungry in the regular world, but now he felt ravenous. Why was that?

The woman glanced at both Squall and Larry, and then blinked. They refocused on Larry and then she dropped both the platter of food and the pitcher of what turned out to be water. This attracted the attention of the other woman in the white dress as well as three other women whom Larry had not noticed that had been sitting at the far end of the hall.

"What is it, Nicola?" One of the three women asked, clearly irritated at the interruption.

"Oh! Covarla Sedai! I did not see you there. This man, he is _Ta'veren_!" the younger woman said pointing a shaky finger at Larry.

"And just how do you know that?" one of the other women demanded.

"It is a talent I have," Nicola said shakily, "Along with foretelling. I told Silviana Sedai that when I first arrived at the tower."

"I see," the first woman said and she turned to Larry, "What is your name?" she asked crisply.

"Harrod," he said simply, "And yours?"

That seemed to offend the women, even the youngest who was well beneath the rest of the women. Unsure why this was a problem, Larry just waited for his answer.

"I am Covorla Baldene of the Red Ajah!" she said finally, "Why are you in this cell?"

Larry rolled his eyes, "As I told your captain of the guards Jerian Majer, my friend and I were traveling here and were picked up by one of his patrols. We did not realize that the city was under siege."

Covorla snorted loudly, "You, girl," she snapped to the woman who had dropped the platters of food, "Go inform Tarna Sedai about this _Ta'veren_ and then come back down here."

"Yes, Covorla Sedai," Nicola squeaked before turning and moving out of the room very quickly indeed.

"And you," Covorla said, sounding even more disgusted as she turned to address who Larry could only assume was the other woman dressed in white, "Clean up this mess that Nicola left. Be quick about it!"

"Very well Covorla," the other woman said smoothly. She made it sound as though it were her choice, when Larry could clearly hear that it was not. The other two women with Covorla seemed to bristle especially.

"And then you can visit Silviana for not showing proper respect to an Aes Sedai, now run along girl." Covorla said coolly, almost as though she had expected such.

The woman dressed in white simply nodded her head and went about collecting the spilled food and water. The three women gave one last long glance at the two men in the cell, and then walked back toward the other cell and out of sight.

That was when something occurred to Larry: he had never met an NPC that had ever referred to him as _Ta'veren_. Few enough players knew the term, so how in the name of the Dream had they known that?

* * *

As what happens with epidemics, people finally start to realize what was going on. Players in DreamLand were not waking up after the mandatory five hour maximum, and nobody knew why. All over the nation people were being checked into hospitals for coma like conditions. Eventually the news stations picked up on the stories and then the major networks.

Calls began to flood into the Headquarters of DreamLand Industries demanding an explanation or directions on how to reverse the problem. All callers were greeted with the same reply, "We apologize for the problems, we're working around the clock to fix them normal service should return shortly."

This reply would only work for so long, and then the demands for an greater explanation finally resulted in a reaction from the executives in DreamLand Industries. The company announced that they would be holding a press conference in which the company's founder and president, John Call would make an announcement about the malfunctions in the DreamLand device, or as the press was beginning to dub it, the "DeathLand device."

John Call appeared at around two o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon on all of the major network news stations: CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and others. Dressed in a suit and tie, he stood behind a podium on a backdrop of the DreamLand logos, he appeared to be a center of calm in a storm of panic that was beginning to sweep the better part of the nation.

"Good afternoon," John began, "There has been much concern in the past few hours about the DreamLand device. Users have been unable to log out or leave the system, putting them into a coma-like state. I regret to say that this has been the end result of a really powerful glitch that has been exploited by a number of users within the system that has resulted in the lockdown of the system. Our administrators are attempting to track down these users and close the glitch that has formed, and also trying to reset the servers in order to force the users to log out. I would request your patience, and also need to inform you that nobody is to enter DreamLand until after this glitch has been resolved. Thank you. Questions?"

The reporter from the _New York Times_ raised his hand, "Yes, you said that this glitch was user caused? How can users cause such a massive lockdown when they cannot manipulate change within the system?"

John nodded, "Good question. That is because we believe that the users responsible for this glitch have done this on purpose, more then likely with help from professional hackers. We will be correcting this security as soon as the servers are reset."

NBC raised her hand, "Yes, how long do you think it will be to fix all of this?"

"A day," John replied instantly, "I have no doubt that this will be resolved as quickly as possible. One more question. Yes, you," John finished pointing at the correspondent for the _Washington Post_.

"What state are the users in right now?" the older graying reporter asked.

"They're still in game, but they no doubt realize that there is a problem because they have not been kicked off yet. All game play will continue as normal until after the servers are shut down," John explained, "Now if you excuse me, I have a lot of work to get done."

John walked out from behind the podium and out of the room quickly, glad that nobody had decided to ask what happened when people actually died in DreamLand.

* * *

"Eh, you in there!" Larry heard as he groggily pulled his head out of the straw. A large man dressed in the garb of the Tar Valon guards was standing at the bars of his cell.

"What?" Larry asked groggily. Then he jumped to his feet in shock, he had been _asleep?_ What was going on with him?

"The Amyrlin Seat wants ta see both of ya," the guard said without preamble, "On yer feet!" he said to Squall.

Squall got up and Larry waited as the man unlocked his cell and then walked out at the man's prompt. With the man leading them down the line of cells, Larry got a chance to look into the other cells that lined the walls. Most of the people in them were unwashed and, by their clothing, poor. Wondering just where he was, Larry found himself standing in what looked like a guard room. Another two guards were standing in the room, talking quietly amongst themselves, but who caught Larry's eye was the dark haired woman who was dressed in a solid white dress. The same one who had fingered him as _Ta'veren._

"Come on then," she said briskly, "The Amyrlin Seat does not like to be kept waiting," and with that she turned and strode out of the room, the door opening in front of her as though invisibly held by a very large man. Larry paused and wondered, _how did she do that?_

Squall brushed past Larry and moved through the door, "Come on," he said, "Maybe we can get out of here."

They followed the woman at a distance of about five feet up numerous stairs and curving walkways until she took a left turn off of a corridor that was covered in finely woven tapestries. Sensing a draft in the air, Larry shot a sideways glance over at Squall who felt it too. All Larry knew was that executions happened outside, meetings with the leaders of countries did not.

Tensing to go into action, Larry began to reach out in the Force looking for some hint of intent. What he sensed was…horses. A stable? Confusion clouded his mind and senses, but he remained alert already knowing there was more to this then met his eye.

"Where are you taking us?" Squall demanded finally.

"To the Amyrlin Seat," the woman replied easily, and she stepped out of an open door and into a stable, just as Larry had predicted.

The stable was deserted, except for the horses, but Larry could sense another program lurking somewhere in the shadows, and he was not proven wrong. Out of the shadows stepped a second woman, shorter and less pale then the first. But she had dark hair and the same white dress, she was the other woman who had been in the cells earlier.

"Who are you?" Larry demanded.

"An Amyrlin Seat in exile," she said easily, "My name is Egwene Al'Vere. And you two do not belong here. Especially a _Ta'veren_, so I think it is time for you to go."

"Why?" Squall asked.

"Because I told her why, and she believes me," sounded a deep voice from the shadows of the stable. Fumbling for his lightsaber, it took Larry a moment to realize that it was not there.

"Who's there?" he demanded, reaching out in the Force but could feel nothing.

"You know me," the voice said, "Both of you do," And a man dressed in a cloak stepped forward with the hood pulled over his face.

"Then show us your face," Squall demanded, his glare icy.

The man dropped his hood to reveal a face that was round and had a thick beard on it. Larry did not recognize the man, but Squall reacted instantly.

"You!" he snarled, "Traitor!"

"You are close," the bearded man said, "But you have me mistaken."

Squall began frantically searching around for something he could use as a weapon, "Why all the prelude, why drag it out? You've come to finish me off, huh? Well get on with it!" he began to babble loudly.

"Be still, Squall Leonhart. I have not come to kill you," the bearded man said, "I have come here to help you."

Larry was still extremely confused, "I have never seen you before in my life," he said.

"Yes you have," the man insisted, and then suddenly his features began to change, he became taller and leaner and his beard disappeared. Suddenly the face jumped out at him, and Larry knew who he was.

"You!" Larry said surprised, "But you're dead!"

"I wish," he said, "But I think it would be better if we don't go by the name you saw me with last time on Nar Shaddaa, but rather call me Carth."

"Why don't we just call you by your real name you slimy piece of dragon poo!?" Squall demanded.

"Calm down, Squall," Carth said easily, flashing a long sword at him. Larry recognized it instantly as the same weapon he used to use when he had been with the Clan Hunters, "And I'll explain everything, but not here. We need to get away quickly."

Turning he looked at Egwene and the other girl, "My offer still stands, Egwene and Nicola. You can come with us if you want."

Egwene, the one who had been waiting for them, shook her head, "My place is here, I must reunite the White Tower before _Tarmon Gai'don_, or else die trying."

Carth nodded sagely, "And you Nicola?" he asked, "Someone like you has a lot of potential, provided you use it correctly."

Nicola seemed to be unsure of what to do, but after a moment she firmly shook her head, "No. I will follow the Mother to reunite the tower, any way I can."

Carth grinned, "Alright. You should get back inside, or else the Aes Sedai will miss you."

"Remember what I told you about Rand," Egwene said, "Get to him quickly, and maybe you can convince him to do what has to be done here."

"I assume you have a way out of a city under siege?" Larry asked curiously.

Carth turned and nodded, "Of course."

"Why should I follow you, traitor?" Squall snarled.

"Because if you don't, you'll die here," Carth answered easily, "Besides, I'm not a traitor, John is."

"Don't toy with us!" Squall snarled, "You _are_ John."

Larry frowned before saying slowly, "That's what that SeeD interpreter said about you, after we captured her at the bar on Nar Shaddaa. That you were a traitor, but she seemed to think you were John Call."

"That's right!" Carth said exasperated, "But I can explain all of that once we get out of the city. You remember what I told you?"

"Yes, of course," Larry said.

"One of them is here, the Dragon Reborn resides on this planet. I needed to get you before you let slip that you were looking for him, or else you'd be dead too," Carth said, "Now I've arranged horses, those will help us later."

"Which ones?" Larry asked.

"These," Carth said, pointing out three ready saddled horses, "I can't wait to see the faces of the Aes Sedai who find out that their horses have disappeared."

With a nod to Egwene, he mounted his horse and both Larry and Squall followed suit. Egwene focused, and Larry swore he felt something surge in the girl, but he was unsure what. That was when a vertical flash of light appeared in the center of the darkened stable, and expanded to fill a space much like a doorway in the center isle. As his eyes readjusted to the darkness, he realized that through it he could see a road and some surrounding countryside.

Quickly moving into the Light, Carth guided his horse through the open gap in the air and onto the road on the other side, "Come on! Hurry!" he shouted.

Not really sure how to ride a horse, Larry experimentally leaned forward in the stirrups and up against the saddle. To his relief, the creature shuffled forward through the door, its hoofs clopping off of the cobble stones in the road. Squall followed shortly behind, his face still demanding an explanation.

Turning through the doorway, Carth called, "Good bye, Egwene! _Tarmon Gai'don_ comes soon, and the White Tower must be whole to face it, one way or another."

Larry turned around to see Egwene nod before the open doorway between the stable and the road disappeared. In its place stood a road that coiled around low hills and down into a marshy city with bridges and a lot of small rivers that ran through the city.

"Where are we now?" Larry asked.

"Illian, the capital of the country it was named after. If I can still read the code correctly, I believe that the Dragon Reborn is currently residing in the city. We should make haste to go and see him there, and convince us to join us. I trust you've been gathering _Ta'veren_ like I told you to do?" Carth asked.

"Yes, but we've only got one. We ran into some difficulties in Hyrule," Larry said.

"Difficulties?" Carth asked, as he turned to face Larry.

"Somebody was there trying to get him already, another clan called the 'God Killers'," Larry explained.

Carth frowned in confusion and then shook his head, "I don't know about that."

"Look Ali…Carth, just what the hell is going on here?" Larry demanded, "I deserve an answer out of you."

Carth sighed, "Alright, I'll tell you everything. I believe we have the time for it. But first, I believe you lost something Squall," reaching into his cloak, he produced a blue gunblade, like the one Larry had seen the SeeD leader use on the few occasions he had had to fight him. Then he turned to Larry and handed him his Lightsaber and his PDA, which Larry checked quickly.

"How did you get that?" Squall demanded, "And how do you know I won't just cut you down where you stand?"

"I don't," Carth said simply, "But I don't think you will, not until you hear what I have to say."

Squall took the gunblade and sheathed it at his side, "You've got five minutes, and you should be lucky I'm going to give you that. After then, I'm turning this entire countryside into ash, with you in it."

Carth nodded, stroking his bearded face, "Remember who taught me to use Hyperion, Squall? You may find that more difficult then you would believe."

* * *

The President of the United States looked up in surprise as a door suddenly appeared at the end of the chamber, and John Call entered. Relief sounded around the room from all of the various heads of state as the founder of DreamLand appeared.

"About bloody time," the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom said in relief.

"Indeed, I thought we would never get out!" the French president sighed.

"I must say I'm sorry," John said, "I had no idea you gentlemen were using DreamLand. Mr. President, your aid only just called to tell me that you were still hooked up to the machine. We've been having trouble with the whole system, everybody in it is having trouble logging out, just as you gentlemen appear to be having."

"Right, but now that you are here; it should be no problem for us to get out of here, correct?" the Russian President said.

"Oh yes, you can go," John said, "I just need to modify your profiles so that they can leave."

Drawing nearer to the closest of the World Leaders, the Australian Prime Minister, John grabbed both sides of the man's head and began staring deeply into the man's eyes. What looked like electric bolts flew off of John's fingertips and into the man's temples, and John's gaze became intent upon the Prime Minister's eyes. Suddenly, though the other's could not see it, the man's face turned to true horror and he tried to cry out but he vanished from the room before a word could escape his lips.

Stepping back, John dusted off his hands, "Right, who's next?"

* * *

"So John created DreamLand," Carth continued just as they began to move through the city gates, "And his ambition began to consume who he was, and different parts of his soul began to become personified inside of DreamLand and deposited there. Before the world was open to the public, each of those persona fought one another for dominance, until the only one left came to control John in the waking world."

Larry was stunned, no word of anything like this had ever leaked out into the forums, or the media…nothing. Now it seemed he was in the presence of one of those very personas who had made up everything that was John Call.

"Why didn't any of this leak out?" Larry asked.

"Because all of this happened in a matter of minutes," Carth said, "While he, I, we were running a test for DreamLand. We all fought one another, except for one part of John's mind: loathing."

"Loathing for what?" Squall asked, "I don't think these guards trust us," he commented as they passed by a checkpoint of crossbowmen who were dressed in blue uniforms with a golden dragon splashed across their chest.

"I wouldn't trust you either," Larry pointed out, "You're dressed in black leather and chains with bullets wrapped around your belt."

"Loathing for everything," Carth continued to explain, "He stayed in the recesses of DreamLand until after there were only two left, myself and one other. Both of us were tired and exhausted from the fighting, and he consumed the other before he turned his attention to me. I managed to fight him off long enough to fade into the remote areas of DreamLand, which is why I'm still here."

"That doesn't explain why you betrayed the SeeDs," Squall said icily.

"Yes, it does," Carth insisted, "DreamLand was set up for the first time while he…we were still serving under your command. I a very long time hiding in here for John to actually begin using DreamLand in the waking world."

"So what does he plan to do?" Larry asked as he guided his stallion onto the first bridge that lead over a marshy swamp.

"Isn't that obvious? He intends to control your world the same way he controls this one. There is only one way to stop him," Carth said.

"Gathering the _Ta'veren_," Larry said, "Why?"

"It's the only way to overwhelm him with his own creations," Carth said, "But there's a built in safeguard against that. Once these _Ta'veren_ start getting removed from their respective worlds, chaos will ensue. Sometimes with powers you cannot begin to comprehend, as what happened in Hyrule."

"What happened in Hyrule?" Larry asked quickly.

Carth turned around and looked, "The world is in ruins and overwhelmed by the minions of the Dark One, who ironically resides in this world. The Dragon Reborn is supposed to fight him soon, but it will result in his own death, or so says prophecy. That's bad for us, because we _need_ him."

The riders rode on in silence and Larry started checking out the buildings and the people who walked through the cobblestone streets. Clearly, John Call had built this city based on Venice, as its architecture and abundant presence of canals. Who built a city on a swamp anyway?

"Carth," Larry asked, "Which part of John's mind are you?"

Carth snorted, and then looked around, "I am his ability to love," he said and then turned away, "We need to find the Dragon Reborn, look for the building with a bunch of Aiel around it."

"What's an 'Aiel'?" Squall asked.

He would soon find out.

* * *

Nikita looked down on the Westlands from the bridge of the _Pride of Clan Hunters_ in silent thought. Why were they doing this? Why continue to go on this quest when all it resulted in was the death of her clan members. For what? Even Allied never told them what was going to happen when they recruited all of the people on his list, and more and more people were chasing them now.

Looking over to the _Pillar of Spring_, she watched as squads of the newly recruited ODSTs dropped to the surface, to begin their search for the Dragon Reborn. Though she wondered what good it would do.

Then she thought about Link, about how his home planet had been ravaged, and how they had been the ones to convince him to leave. He only hoped that he would be able to make a difference in the world around him. And where in DreamLand was Harrod? She thought he was the key to this whole thing, but not sure how. Either way, she had to find him and quick.

* * *

"Always an honor," Outlaw murmured as he flourisheddown into the square from the balcony from which he was standing. John Call had been right, of course, the fool was still going after the list of people that had been provided. Why, he was unsure, but he knew that it would lead him to wealth, and that was all that mattered.

Of course, killing the Jedi here would be too easy. He would wait…for now. Grinning, Outlaw twirled his cape and disappeared into the room, laughing madly.


	24. Chapter 23: The Dragon Reborn

_There's too many men  
Too many people  
Making too many problems  
And not much love to go round  
Cant you see  
This is a land of confusion._

Chapter 23: The Dragon Reborn

The head of clan Jolly Rogers looked out through the view port that was at the front of his bridge. His Hammerhead-class capital ship was the center of a small fleet of starships that he commanded. Though a pirate, he rarely attacked ships that were carrying users in the game. Player Killing attracted too much attention and more trouble then they were worth, so he stuck to raiding and capturing ships that were controlled by NPCs.

Lately though, he had had his work cut out for him. In this remote part of DreamLand things were happening with increased frequency that could only be described as highly unusual. It made him nervous, very nervous. He had considered pulling out of this sector, but he was miles away from anywhere where he and his band of pirates would be recognized and attacked on sight. He had not been making friends around here lately, but the loot he had would set up his clan nicely else where.

Leaning back in his chair, he glanced out of the portside view at the Challenger class _USS Armstrong_ that was hovering in place next to the Hammerhead-class ship. It had been sitting there undergoing repairs ever since the last clash with a small group of scouting ships that had appeared out of nowhere from space.

Alarms rang and the entire bridge area flashed bright red. An automated computer voice blared, "Warning! Proximity alarm has been triggered. Multiple ships have entered the sector…"

"Computer, end recording," the captain commanded. He was the only person logged in and on the bridge at the moment. Not that he wanted to still be logged in, his time should have expired two hours ago, "Show me," he commanded.

On a small computer console in front of the captain flickered to life and a live streaming feed coming from his foremost ship, a small scouting shuttle that was on automated patrol so that way his personnel could be more productive, appeared on the screen.

Gaping at the sight, the captain sat down to closer inspect the image. More and more ships were appearing from what had been empty space into real space. Hundreds were already there, and hundreds more were appearing each second. Suddenly his own fleet seemed smaller then he could have imagined. What struck the captain as odd, however, was that the ships themselves were like nothing he had ever seen before. They did not seem to be made out of any metal that he could see, and their designs were extremely random and organic, not at all like the ships he usually saw.

"Captain," came a voice over the intercom, "Are you seeing this?"

"Yes," he answered automatically, "Any idea who they are?"

One of his other ship captains answered first, "No idea, sir, but I think that this must be the start of some major event in DreamLand. I hadn't heard about any new events starting up though."

The captain of the _USS Armstrong _spoke up, "Sir, I think I know who they are."

"Oh really? Would you care to enlighten us?" the Jolly Roger's leader asked, his voice rising as the space around them began to fill up with more and more ships.

"The Yuuzhan Vong," the _Armstrong's_ captain replied, and it sent chills down everybody's spines.

* * *

The user named Lei Shu anxiously thrust forward with his spear, piercing the armor of the warrior across from him. He and his clan were currently attached to Liu Bei's forces, re-enacting famous battles across Three Kingdom's China. Or at least, that was what they _had_ been hoping to do. Lately, things had changed from what had been the original timeline, what with the unexpected disappearance of Wei's leader, Cao Cao.

Ever since then, he and his clan had been locked in battle after battle with the forces of Wu and whatever was left of the splintered forces of Wei. Chaos was truly the rule of the day in Three Kingdom's China, and there seemed to be no way to escape it. Every time Lei Shu attempted to log out to escape the madness, he found that he was sealed in.

Shu ducked another blow from a sword man who had gotten too close just as his friend managed to put his own sword between the man's armor, saving him.

"Hey Lei Shu!" his clan mate said, "Where the heck did this ambush come from?"

"Heck if I know!" Lei Shu shouted back, "But I'm starting to think that the people who left had the right idea! We should try to get off this planet!"

"Nonsense!" his friend said as he cut off the head of another soldier before standing back to back with his friend, "This is exactly what I signed up for!"

"Yes, but don't you find it odd that we can't sign out anymore?"

"Who cares?" his friend replied, "It's not like I have anything better to do!"

Lei Shu was about to argue some more but decided against it, "Where is Lord Zhang Fei?" he asked instead.

"Last I saw him, he was dueling with Wu's champion, Taishi Ci, should we assist him?"

"Yes," Lei Shu said curtly, and the two began to move through the chaotic battle to find Lord Zhang Fei. It did not take long to find the two leaders, dueling each other in a circle about twenty feet in diameter surrounded by fighting men on all sides.

Zhang Fei was using his considerable mass and momentum to continue to bash his spear into Taishi Ci's weapons, but Taishi Ci appeared content to block, waiting for an opening.

"Quickly Lei Shu!" his friend said, "We must help Lord Zhang Fei!" and without hesitation, the two ran into the empty space and began striking at Taishi Ci from the sides with their own weapons. The hero of Wu sneered in annoyance at the two seemingly generic foot soldiers and made to strike them down, lashing out with his two large rods in an attempt to smash both of the interloper's skulls. That was when Zhang Fei stabbed at Taishi Ci with his spear, forcing the powerful man backwards.

"You can't possibly win here!" Taishi Ci shouted at Zhang Fei, "Soon all of China will be under the banner of my lord, Sun Ce!"

"Ha!" Zhang Fei snorted loudly, "We'll never concede! He may be the little conquer, but he's is no match for the three brothers and Zhuge Liang!"

Lei Shu was about to advance again, when suddenly the sunlight that had been coming down out of the sky darkened. Looking up, he noticed that dark clouds were beginning to form in the sky with remarkable speed. Lightening flashed in the clouds, and then began striking the ground all around the two clashing armies. Men screamed and died as the world around them was turned into flames and thrown earth.

"What sorcery is this!?" Taishi Ci shouted, "This is your witch, Zhuge Liang's work!"

Zhang Fei looked up into the sky with wonder, "If it is, I had no idea he was capable of such magic…"

Then the lightening stopped and the clouds parted , and a single man appeared in the clouds with a strong muscular build, a prominent nose and flaming red hair. As he descended from the clouds, Lei Shu noticed that the man wore strange black armor that he had never seen in his time in DreamLand, but he knew that his arrival was not a good sign.

"Crud," his friend said, "I know who that is…"

Lei Shu turned and gave his friend a questioning look, "Who is he?"

"His name is Ganondorf, a very powerful villain, and probably the reason we've been hearing so much about Hyrule's demise lately."

As Ganondorf hovered a few feet off of the ground, he began to study the faces of the men who were looking up at him, and then a nasty grin appeared on his face.

"Oh crap," Lei Shu said as Ganondorf threw his hands up into the air and more and more lightening began to pour out of the sky into the assembled troops, killing hundreds in an instant.

"We gotta get out of here!" Lei Shu's friend shouted.

"No, really?!" Lei Shu shouted back sarcastically, and he looked back at the suspended red haired man. He was laughing madly now, and appeared to be flinging fireballs at the men on the ground from his hands, burning them to cinders.

Turning, Lei Shu and his friend began to run out of the battlefield as quickly as possible, running past the assembled soldiers and wounded and dying. Finally reaching the edge of the battlefield, both of them pulled up short their jaws dropping at the sight that awaited them.

A legion of darkly armored creatures stood at the top of a low ridge, a collection of eagle's beaks, goat's horns, and cloven feet. Fear suddenly gripped the two users, who realized only too late as the hordes of trollocs descended on them, that they were not going to make it out of this slaughter alive.

* * *

As the DreamLand epidemic grew around the world, the world leaders began to appear on television and radios to address the concerned populations about the problem.

"I have every faith that the dedicated men and women at DreamLand Industries will resolve this issue with little hassle and no damage," the American president said as part of his address to the nation.

"This crisis will end shortly," came the confident reply from the British Prime Minister, "John Call knows more about that system then anybody alive!"

"The Americans know how to fix this problem," the Russian president announced on a radio address to his nation, "And I have every confidence that they will resolve the problem shortly."

"I urge you to be patient!" the Australian Prime Minister said seriously, "This is merely a small glitch that has happened with a relatively new piece of technology, it should be no surprise to anyone when the program has small problems. More so when foul play is involved, which is what DreamLand Industries says is happening."

John Call watched each of the statements impassively, but on the inside he was grinning. They had said exactly what he had wanted them to say, but he would have been much happier of DreamLand was not falling apart at the seams, and if that blasted Jedi _Ta'veren_ was in his possession. He had no idea what that fool had told the Jedi, but he knew that he must have been responsible for the deteriorating conditions in DreamLand.

A knock sounded on John's office door, and a very badly ruffled Todd Jacobs entered the room. He had not slept in two days, living off of coffee and whatever he could grab out of the vending machines. He had been too busy working to resolve the issues that had been plaguing DreamLand in the past few days.

"I've got bad news," he said, "Three Kingdom's China has been trashed, just like Hyrule."

"How?"

"You're not going to believe this, but it was another horde of trollocs, only this time lead by Ganondorf."

"You're right, I don't believe you," John said as he plopped back down into his chair, "Any luck finding the people responsible for taking the _Ta'veren_?"

"No sir, but we do have agents and other administrators sitting on all of the remaining ones, so there's no way they can destabilize the game anymore."

"We'll see. Have the agents been upgraded?" John asked.

"yes sir," Todd said looking down into a folder he was holding, "But there's something else."

"Yes?" John asked tensely. Todd had been delivering very little good news lately.

"An event is happening that nobody programmed, but something we were planning on doing in another six months or so, the Yuuzhan Vong have apparently begun their invasion of New Republic space."

John threw up his hands, "Alright, I'm going in myself," he said angrily.

"Are you sure sir?" Todd asked, "If you go in we don't know if we can get you out, until this whole thing is resolved."

"People are going into comas, Todd. I have to keep as many people from dying in the game as possible. An invasion from a new enemy will kill thousands, I'll deal with this myself," he replied, _and hopefully catch that Jedi and those _Ta'veren_ snatchers while I'm at it!_

"Alright sir, I'll see that you're not disturbed," Todd said as he made for the door.

"Todd?" John asked, and the head of operations turned around.

"Yes, Mr. Call?"

"Get some sleep, that's an order."

Todd hesitated, but did not argue, "Yes, sir," he replied.

"Sweet dreams," John called after him as he left the room.

* * *

"There!" Carth pointed to a large structure at the center of the city, "That is where we'll find the Dragon Reborn."

"How can you be sure?" Squall asked, peering up at the domed roof with is elegant balconies.

"The Aiel are standing guard," Carth said pointing to one of the doorways.

"Where?" Larry asked.

"Try sensing them," Carth suggested, and Larry reached out with his mind into the Force, only then did he see where the two figures were sitting in a squat holding spears near the entrance.

"Why couldn't I see them?" Larry asked.

"Because they didn't want you to see them," Carth replied.

As they approached the door, Carth smoothly dismounted from his horse and Larry and Squall awkwardly followed suit. Carth confidently approached the front door of the house and made as though he was going to walk in unmolested. Of course, both of the Aiel guards sprang to their feet and pressed their spears into Carth's chest.

"I'm here to see the _Car'a'carn," _Carth said calmly, "He's expecting me."

"So he is, Carth Underhill, but not these two spares that you travel with," one of the masked figures said, and to Larry's surprise he realized that it was a woman talking. Aside from Tex, he had not really met very many women who were competent fighters, but the Aiel held themselves like they knew how to kill all three of them ten different ways before he could blink.

"They're with me, and will not cause any problems," Carth replied confidently.

The two warriors exchanged looks and flashed their hands at each other in some sort of sign language. Clearly, they used it as some form of communication, because the one who had not been speaking ducked in through the door, dropping the veil that hung across her face that had made it so hard for Larry to realize that they were women.

"_Gai'shain _will come and get your horses, and you will leave your weapons with the _Far Dareis Mai_ that will come to take you to the _Car'a'carn_," the first woman said, her fierce green eyes promising punishment if they had decided to do anything foolish.

"_Far Dareis Mai?" _Larry asked.

"Maidens of the Spear, in the old tongue. It's the same language that the word _Ta'veren_ comes from. The Maidens are a warrior society within the Aiel who are made up of women, most of them are as tough as the men, if not tougher. Don't try anything dumb in there, or we'll be dead in seconds. The Aiel are especially jumpy lately, what with _Tarmon'gaidon_ approaching."

"_Tarmon'gaidon_?" Squall asked darkly.

"The Last Battle, and event that's scheduled to occur soon, all the more reason that convincing the Dragon Reborn to join us," Carth said as about five people dressed in white robes appeared to take their horses.

"What do you mean?" Larry asked.

Carth rolled his eyes, "I guess you should know. The Dragon Reborn is supposed to die at the Last Battle to save all of mankind from being overrun and ruled by the Dark One, sort of a satanic figure in this world. If the Dragon Reborn is not at the Last Battle, then the people of this world will be enslaved or destroyed for sure."

Larry was shocked, "What? Why are we taking this man then, surely there must be another way!"

"Look at it this way, if we don't stop John Call, then real people will be at risk, not just computer programs."

"What's that about computer programs?" Squall asked, "There people are real too."

"Uh, right, of course," Carth said, "But if we stop John Call, then we can stop the Dark One too, we just need to convince him to join us."

The door opened again and a servant dressed in darkly colored livery stood in the doorway. Larry caught a glimpse of the other Aiel woman as she darted back into her position next to the door. Her veil was down now, and for some reason it made Larry feel more at ease, though he was not sure why.

"This way," the servant said promptly and turned on his heel, when Larry got closer he realized that the man was clearly sweating profusely. _Probably not used to the weather here_, Larry reasoned.

The trio walked through the door, only to be quickly surrounded by more women who were dressed in the same robes and skirts as the ones outdoors. These one's had their faces covered and their spears pointed at the three guests.

"Your weapons," one of the masked women ordered, "Drop them."

Carth produced Hyperion and carefully set it down on the ground, and Squall and Larry followed suit. Only after they had been thoroughly searched and disarmed were they allowed to continue, onward down the hallway. The building was clearly well maintained, as Larry's boots slid smoothly down the well polished tile work. Paintings and small carvings sat in small out coves that were carved into the wall, speaking of extremely high quality.

The hallway curved, and a group of unveiled maidens was standing at the entrance of two very large double doors. The maiden at the head of the formation that had surrounded Larry and the other two motioned to the maidens around the doors and the doors opened smoothly. Beyond the entrance was a large spacious bedroom, with colorful carpets and blinds over the windows, which were open now to flood the room with bright sunlight.

But it was not the room's immediate surroundings that had Larry staring though; it was the man who was sitting slouched in a chair facing the door. Standing around him were two women and one man dressed in a dark coat buttoned up fully, despite the heat.

"So you've returned," the seated man said, "But you've brought company," he said, studying them with an intent gaze.

"Yes, my Lord Dragon," Carth said respectfully, "Have you thought on what I have told you?"

Larry took the time to study the man carefully, from the crown made of small daggers to the red hair and gray eyes. One of the women who was nearer to the Dragon Reborn was a younger woman, who was slim in figure and studied Larry with large dark eyes, but something told Larry that she was seeing more then just his face. The other woman was a much older lady, but the only way Larry could tell that was by the grey hair that she had, when he focused on her face he found he really could not tell just how old she was. She had many gold ornaments worked oddly into her hair, which Larry found odd. The last person in the room was the tall man with dark curly hair, he wore a dragon shaped badge on one side of his collar and what looked like a silver sword on the other.

The Dragon Reborn peered suspiciously into the eyes of Larry before moving on to Squall for a moment, and then he said, "Yes I have been thinking about what you said when you were here last. I have a hard time believing it though, truly the Last Battle must be here, at Shayol Ghul, it is where I must…"

He cut off with a look at the younger woman, who frowned at him and looked like she wanted to say something but kept silent. The tall dark man shifted slightly, and the older woman's expression did not change, but she stared more intently at Carth.

"The battle will surely end at Shayol Ghul, where the Dark One is bound, but that does not mean that the battle will start there. The armies of the Dark One are traveling through an ancient _Ter'angreal _that connects them to different worlds. Already the noble kingdom of Hyrule now remains in rubble and…"

Larry suddenly felt sick and a wave of intense nausea went through him as he slumped to the ground.

Carth took immediate notice, "Are you alright?"

"It's…nothing," Larry said, still not sure about the strength of his stomach.

"Sure it was, I felt it too, now tell me what you thought that was," Carth insisted.

Larry thought for a moment, and then concentrated on the sickening feeling in his stomach, "People are dying, a lot of them. All at once," Larry stammered.

"How can you possibly know that?!" the gray haired woman demanded.

Larry looked up, staring the woman in the eyes, "I just _know_!" he snapped back. The younger woman near the Dragon Reborn jerked slightly before whispering softly in the Dragon Reborn's ear.

After that, the Dragon Reborn go up and said, "It's alright, Cadsuane. I believe him. Where are my manners? I am Rand Al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn. This is Cadsuane Melaidhrin, an Aes Sedai of the Green Ajah, Logain Ablar, an _Asha'man_, and this is Min," Rand finished pointing to the younger woman behind him. 

"Aes Sedai?" Squall said somewhat startled as he glanced at the gray haired woman, "More of them?"

"What do you mean by more of them?" Cadsuane demanded.

"They were locked up in the White Tower's dungeon when I took the liberty of liberating them," Carth said placidly.

"How did you get out of the White Tower?" Rand, the Dragon Reborn, asked curiously, "I thought it was under siege."

"I employed the help of one very willing novice to open a gateway for me," Carth said grinning, "I believe you know her. Her name is Egwene."

"That's impossible," Logain blurted, "She is the Amyrlin Seat."

"She has been captured and put back into novice white," Carth said calmly.

"My Lord Dragon, I will volunteer to lead a rescue to the White Tower of Asha'man who are ready to rescue her," Logain offered quickly.

Rand looked curiously at the shorter man before shaking his head slowly, "No, Egwene must weave her own way through the pattern, as I must weave _my_ own way. Now who is dying?" he demanded of Larry.

"I…I don't know." Larry admitted, "But they died violently."

"It the same as with Hyrule, my Lord Dragon," Carth said, "The legions of the Dark One's trollocs have overwhelmed another world. The Last Battle has already begun, and you must be there to fight along with all of the worlds' heroes."

Rand turned to look at Carth sadly, "If you can offer me proof of your claims, I will follow you to the Last Battle on three conditions."

"Name them," Carth said, crossing his arms.

"First, that I am still able to help these people here as best as I am able, to set save them…after the battle," Rand said.

Carth nodded, concern flashing in his eyes, "Of course," he said solemnly.

"Secondly, you provide some way for me to communicate with my people here, to help coordinate things here. Something tells me that where we are going is beyond a pigeon's flight range."

"Also done," Carth said, though curiosity gleamed in his eyes as to the third guess.

"And lastly, my armies stay behind to protect these lands from the thrust that will come out of the Blight. Whether or not the Last Battle starts here, it will end here. They need some protection against that inevitable end."

Carth blanched visibly at this request, "All of them, my Lord Dragon?"

"The Maidens will not like this," Logain cautioned.

Rand looked at the door, behind which the maidens of the spear were diligently standing guard, "No, they will not," he agreed solemnly.

"They would be more useful then you can realize," Carth prodded, "Though a significant force should be left behind, it would be unwise to come completely alone. What about the Leigon of the Dragon, and some more _Asha'man_?" he said hopefully.

Rand looked indecisive, "Can transport for such a large number of soldiers be made ready?" he asked.

Larry looked in surprise at Carth's nodding head. How was he transporting anybody? They were marooned on this planet with no way out, short of a Stargate.

"Very well, but you still offer me no proof," Rand said sternly and everybody looked at Carth expectantly.

"Squall, could you remove your shirt please?" Carth asked after a moment.

Squall was extremely surprised at the request, "Why?" he demanded.

"Because there is something on your chest that proves everything," Carth said patiently, "Now please, your shirt."

Reluctantly, Squall unzipped the leather jacket he always wore and set it aside. Then he pulled up his shirt, showing a very well sculpted body, and almost to mock that overtop of it ran a long diagonal scar similar to the one that marred the man's face.

Larry heard a gasp and he turned to see Min with her hand up to her mouth in shock. Rand looked even more surprised, and his hand went immediately to his own chest, while Carth turned toward the Dragon Reborn and the Aes Sedai and unwound the robe he was wearing to reveal an identical scar across his own chest.

"How is that…possible?" Rand stammered, "It is identical."

"Yes, and I am willing to bet that you have no idea how you gained the one on your chest either," Carth said calmly as he put his robe back together.

"So you were right then," Rand said as he sat back down in the chair he had been sitting in, "We are all tied together."

"That's right," Carth said, "And we must move quickly, or else suffer the result of our slow actions."

"I don't get it…" Larry started when from outside came the sound of rapid bursts of machine gun fire.

Squall quickly put back on his jacket and Larry reached for his lightsaber, only to find it missing. Carth turned toward the door, almost unconcerned as though he had been expecting it.

"What in the name of the Creator was that?" Rand asked, picking up on Larry and Squall's alarm.

"Not the God Killers!" Larry said desperately, "We can't fight them here!"

"Those fools do not use guns," Carth said just as calmly, "but they use weapons of a more dangerous kind."

More gunfire sounded from just outside the building and then was silent for several minutes, and then the door opened, and a large number of Maidens of the Spear walked in veils up and very dangerous looking. In the middle of the formation stood a large number of people that Larry recognized, and he started in alarm.

"You!" Assim said in surprise, "Figures we would find you here!"

"Harrod!" Section said in surprise, "You're alive!"

In the center stood Assim, Section, Beyond, Tex, Red, and Leo, all disarmed and looking very upset at being so. What caught Larry's attention the most though was the black caped man who was trying very hard to sneak back into the shadows, only to be prodded forward again by one of the maidens with a thrust of her spear.

"Outlaw?" Larry said surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"Me!" Outlaw said, now pushing to get in front of Assim, "I am simply here to…"

"Shut up," Tex said punching Outlaw in the stomach, "He started shooting at us the moment we showed up. We were sent here looking for the Dragon Reborn by Nikita. Seems that Gregory knew where to find this _Ta'veren_ exactly."

"I am the Dragon Reborn," Rand said standing up, "Friends of yours?" he asked of Carth.

"Why yes," Carth said with a small smile, "They are how we are going to get to the battle."

"Battle?" Assim demanded, "What battle?"

Carth sighed, "If it would please the Lord Dragon, I would recommend that we all go somewhere more accommodating and then I can explain everything to everybody."

Rand nodded, "Yes, I would like that very much."

"_Car'a'carn,_" one of the Maidens at the head of the formation spoke up, "The man dressed like _da'tsang_ attacked these travelers first, it would be best to keep him separated."

"Very well, search all of them and remove anything they have on them. Then inform the kitchen that we will be having a late lunch."

"Very well, _Car'a'carn_," the Maiden said, and with that all of the maidens dropped their veils, before beginning to push everybody out of the room.

* * *

"Let me GO!" Yuna screamed as she pounded the walls of her prison.

"Will you be quiet?" Cao Cao sneered from his own plush prison.

"Be quiet and what? Die!?" Yuna screamed back at him, "They killed my family, my friends!"

"And what will screaming about it accomplish?" Cao Cao sighed.

"It will accomplish something!" Yuna said as tears began streaming down her face.

Cao Cao sighed again and rolled back into his cushions, suddenly aware of his hunger. As though his cell understood his need for food, a basket full of baozi appeared in front of him, freshly steaming as though they had just been cooked. Eagerly picking one up, he began eating away at it hungrily.

As Yuna continued to sob and Cao Cao munched away hungrily at his baozi, the door opened and a blonde haired woman glided into the room. Suspended in the air in front of her was a teenager a few years younger then Yuna with dark hair and wore black robes. He was unconscious, and the blonde haired woman did not bother to look into the cells that Yuna and Cao Cao were occupying.

Cao Cao continued to eat hungrily, but he watched the blonde haired woman like a cornered wolf, coiled and ready to lunge for her throat. Yuna's eyes continued to leak tears as she glared at the woman with anger as she passed by carrying the limp boy.

Going down the line, the woman and the boy stopped at another cell. This one was decorated with tables, squashy red armchairs, and a roaring fireplace against one wall. On the floor was a carpet, giving the cell a very cozy appearance and useful for studying. The blonde haired woman flicked her wrist, and the boy landed unceremoniously in an armchair.

As she turned to leave, Yuna called, "Why are you doing this!?"

The blonde haired woman tilted her head slightly as she passed to regard Yuna before saying, "You are going to help us kill a God, one which would see you dead."

"What?" Cao Cao stammered, "A God?"

Without any other word, the blonde haired woman began to glide smoothly out of the room, leaving the two _Ta'veren_ more confused then before.

* * *

Rand was silent for a long moment, clearly thinking over everything that had been said. Finally he bent forward and asked, "How much time do we have?"

Carth leaned forward, stroking his beard in thought, "I don't know, but it will not be much time now, we must move quickly or else the out come will be…severe."

"You have stressed that enough already," Cadsuane said sternly, "But I still do not see any reason to believe your outlandish tale. The Dark One is just some small lord compared to a greater evil that exists? Nonsense!"

"I believe him," Rand said quietly, "And that's all that matters," he looked up to where one of the maidens by the door were sitting, "Spread this message: I want five hundred out of every warrior society ready for travel as soon as possible. In addition, the Legion of the Dragon should be ready to march immediately. Cadsuane and Logain, I want all Asha'man and Aes Sedai that can be gathered here in two hours. Go to the Black tower if you have to, Logain."

"That will not be…easy," Logain said darkly, "Tiam…"

"I know about that," Rand said, cutting Logain off, "But we'll need as many men who can channel as possible if this battle is going to be as terrible as it sounds. Tiam is not to know I am leaving though, for all he knows I'm fighting the Seanchan."

"Very well, my Lord Dragon," Logain said formally, though Larry could easily tell he was not happy with the assignment.

"You," Rand said pointing to Assim, who was sitting at a long table along with the rest of the Clan Hunters, "You will report to your commanders, and let them know what has happened here, and arrange for us to travel properly."

"I liked Link a lot better," Assim muttered, clearly unhappy with being told what to do, louder he said, "Actually, Harrod is our squad leader, I was just brought in because of Harrod's abduction, we're surprised to see him here."

Section and Tex nodded, while Beyond just looked big and content with being so big. The Maidens who were guarding him had called him an Ogier at first sight of him, whatever _that_ was.

"I'll be ready to leave as soon as my forces are assembled," Rand said.

"Good, because I regret to say that we will not be staying," Carth said, "Squall here will show you the way to the battlefield, he knows the way."

Squall turned and glared at Carth as he took back Lionheart, "What do you mean by this?"

"You were planning on bringing what was left of SeeD to the battle to stop John, were you not?" Carth said matter-of-factly.

"Yes," Squall said, "But how did you know that?"

"Forget about that," Carth said, "You know how to work the Stargates, and that will be how you will travel to the battlefield, you already know where it will take place because you were there before. Remember?"

Squall stared darkly into Carth's eyes, and then began to nod his head slowly, "Lead the forces of SeeD and the Dragon Reborn there, because without them all hope will be lost."

"There's one other thing," Larry said, speaking up for the first time, "We still have that SeeD interpreter onboard the _Pride_."

"You have one of my soldiers?" Squall said coldly, his gaze directed at the Clan Hunters.

"We took her at Nar Shaddaa," Larry explained quickly, "I'm sure we can get her released…"

"Do it," Squall ordered, "Or else I bring no soldier to any battlefield."

Carth sighed , but nodded his head, "Assim, see if you can get the prisoner released too."

* * *

Number six was not happy, "Someone is gathering the _Ta'veren_ as well," she said angrily, "Who could this be?"

"Our brother?" Number Three suggested, "And whoever killed Number One?"

"Yes…" Number Six said running a finger through her blonde hair, "We'll have to go and collect the _Ta'veren_ from them."

"Time is working against us," Number Four said as she flicked her dark hair over her shoulder, "Already the NPC forces within the game are growing more bold. The Yuuzhan Vong are advancing, the Covenant are searching for their sacred rings with more determination then usual, and the trollocs and half-men are not only ravaging the lands, but they are getting ready for the Last Battle."

"Then we must move quickly," Number Six said, "Find the Clan Hunters as soon as possible."

"Yes…it will be done," Number Five said deceitfully.


	25. Chapter 24: Stranded

Chapter 24

"You're sure?" she asked him, hoping to change his mind, but in truth, she already knew the answer.

"There's nothing you can do to help me," the tall man replied, "So I must find another way."

"We will always be better off complete, and then nobody can stand against us," the blonde replied.

"To what end?" he replied, "To do what? We're trapped in here, so what good does it do? Maybe I can find an escape."

"There is a way to escape," she said, her eyes flashing brightly.

"Your way is suicide," the tall man said sternly.

"We shall see," she replied.

When he did not say anything for a couple minutes, she spoke up, "If you will not stay, then accept my parting gift."

The tall man stood up and leaned against his staff, "What gift?" he asked.

"The clan that lived here before left behind a few ships…and a large stockpile of treasure. I've filled one of the ships with some of the gold, and you're allowed to take it. I'm sure it will help you get to wherever you need to go."

He was speechless, and with a curt nod turned and walked away, his brightmage's staff hitting the ground every few steps making a hollow _clunk_ on the polished stone floor.

"Number Two!" she called after him.

The large man turned around, and gave her a questioning look.

"Good luck."

The tall man laughed, "I'm beyond help, Number Six, and almost hope."

Beyond woke up in the darkness of his cabin and had to blink several times to clear himself of the after image of the dream. He could not explain the dreams, or why they had only recently started. Usually this was an existence void of any dreams.

Knowing that sleep would escape him now, Beyond swung his legs out from under the blankets and stood up. On the footlocker next to his bunk sat his hip flask, which he opened and took a swallow out of. The inky black liquid poured down his throat, bitter tasting as always.

The door to the barracks slid open, and Beyond looked up as Larry entered the room. He had clearly not slept, and had been in conference with the High Command and that bearded newcomer, Beyond thought his name was Carth, since they had returned to the _Pride_. Larry noticed Beyond right away, and walked up to him.

"Things are odd all throughout DreamLand," Larry said by way of greeting.

"Oh?" Beyond asked, feigning surprise.

"We should not be here, we've all been here for too long," Larry said.

_Tell me about it, _Beyond thought to himself, but instead he said, "What are the Clan Hunters going to do about it?"

"They're concerned that our actions have something to do with the bugs keeping everybody locked into the system. They've considered backing out…and returning to playing the game."

"And are they?" Beyond asked, a slight edge to his voice.

"No," Larry said tiredly, "Carth and I convinced them. We're going to have to find the other _Ta'veren_ if we have any chance of finishing this, or so Ali…Carth says."

Beyond caught the slip, and nodded to himself thoughtfully. That explained a lot.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"I don't know," Larry said truthfully, "But I'm sure we will find out when we get there. I have no idea who the other _Ta'veren _are, but It seems that Bobby knows wherever this 'High Summoner' is. So that's probably where we're headed next."

Larry yawned, "Anyway, I need some rest. Being here so long wears me out…"

"You can take my bunk," Beyond suggested, "I won't be needing it for a while."

Larry nodded his thanks and slumped onto the mattress, snoring in a matter of seconds.

Beyond looked around the room for a moment before turning and walking out of the room, leaving the sleeping Clan Hunters to their rest. He found the hallways mostly deserted, though there were people walking them, all of them armed. The recent attack on board the _Pride_ could still be seen by the bullet holes and carbon scoring all over the walls, though most of the blood and all of the bodies had been thankfully removed. Casualties for the attack had been thankfully light, but the loss of Lt. Commander Fury had been especially harsh, since he had been the one who had captured the _Pride of the Clan Hunters _in the first place.

Eventually his walking took him to the infirmary, where he wanted to visit the one member of his team that had been wounded. When Beyond ducked into the infirmary (literally, his head brushed the top of the doorframe) the first thing he spotted was Tex, standing over a bed with her back turned to him.

She heard him enter and turned to face him, her eyes fierce for a moment before she recognized him and then softened only slightly. Her sword was only an arm's length away, resting against Fox's bed. Beyond came up to the bed and looked down into it. Fox was asleep, like most of the rest of the ship.

"How is he?" Beyond rumbled, his gaze looking over at Tex now.

"Better," Tex said, "Doc D's been giving him potions and cures for the past couple hours…since the attack. He should be ready to go soon, but we all need rest…since we can't get any real rest."

"What about you?" Beyond asked, "Have you gotten any sleep?"

Tex glared over at him, but then her expression soften when she saw the concerned look on Beyond's face, "…no," she admitted.

"Fox will be fine, but if you're tired during the next op, then you become a liability to yourself and the rest of the squad."

"I know that!" Tex said sounding indignant, though the yawn that cracked her lips made her seem less fierce.

"Get some sleep," Beyond said softly, as a suggestion.

Tex looked down one more time at the sleeping Fox, who murmured something in his sleep and then rolled over.

"Is it possible that he's dreaming? Here?" Tex asked.

Beyond shrugged, "I do not know," he answered truthfully. She was right though, it should not be possible.

Tex walked over and gingerly picked up her sword, "I will get some rest."

Beyond nodded in agreement and watched her go. He looked down at Fox one more time, puzzled by the apparent existence of dreams here before he turned and left.

He walked all throughout the _Pride_ pondering the changes in DreamLand. No doubt, his fate was already sealed, but that did not mean he wanted the rest of these people to find a similar fate.

"You!" Beyond heard behind him. He turned to spot that bearded man, Carth dressed in long robes and holding Hyperion walking toward him.

Beyond brought his staff up wearily, Carth looked pissed about something, "Yes?" he asked.

"Who are you?" Carth demanded, his gaze so piercing he looked as though he were trying to see past his skin to see who was really inside of it.

"I am Beyond," Beyond replied simply.

"I know that!" Carth snapped, "But you are not like all of the other users! You have no way to exit! Why?"

Beyond's face slipped slightly before he caught himself, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Carth's face was in a snarl and he struck at Beyond with Hyperion, which Beyond blocked, "Liar!" Carth cried, "I've heard about programs like you! You are an NPC, you must be!"

"That's ridiculous!" Beyond shouted, "NPCs are not aware they're in a GAME!" he pushed Carth off of him and lashed out with the other end of his brightmage's staff.

"Then how do you explain why you stem from the system itself?" Carth said, holding his ground as he ducked under the attack, "I can read the code!"

Beyond faltered slightly as Carth revealed that. Carth used the momentary lapse to get inside of Beyond's guard and knocked both him to the ground and his staff in the other direction down the hallway. Hyperion was pointed at Beyond's throat, and Carth said, "You will tell me who you are…now!"

Beyond sighed, perhaps this man could help him find a cure…if he could read the code, "In truth, I do not really know," Beyond said, "I was created, but I believe that I was real at one time. A clan created us…"

"Us?"

"There were six of us," Beyond explained, "We were a product of something that was never supposed to happen."

"You're a part of the system now, just like the other programs and moderators. But I do not think you were made by John Call. Which means you were developed illegally."

Beyond nodded, "That would make sense. I believe the clan that created us meant to use us as weapons...in their wars with other clans."

"So they must have had a hacker which made your program, and fused it with some subsystem," Carth said removing his gunblade from Beyond's throat.

Beyond slowly got to his feet, "So you're saying that I'm actually a part of the game…of the illusion?"

"No different than any other program, it seems…no different than me," Carth explained.

For the first time since he had been in there, he felt a chill, "And what if something happens to DreamLand?"

Carth shrugged, "I do not know, but I can guess. And so can you. You said there were six of you, where are the others?"

Beyond shrugged, "We parted ways a long time ago," he said thinking about his dream, "But I ran into one on Hyrule…"

Carth's eyes opened widely, "You're one of the God Killers!" he said surprised.

Beyond shook his head fiercely, "No! They took that name after I left."

"That explains a lot," Carth said, "Do you know where they are now?" he asked.

"No," Beyond said shaking his head sadly.

Allied sighed sadly, "You're the first time I've managed to get close to one of them, I've been chasing them since the rumors have been sprouting all throughout DreamLand."

Beyond remained silent, wondering where this conversation was going. The man had attacked him, after all, and could do so again. When Carth saw that Beyond was choosing to remain silent, Carth stepped backward and allowed Beyond to stand.

"What the God Killers want to do is different from what needs to be done," Carth explained, "It's not that their intentions aren't good, but they're misguided. If they continue with their plan, then it could result in the death of everyone around us."

Beyond opened his mouth to ask how that could be possible, but was cut off as the ship around him began to rock violently, throwing both of the men off of their feet. The ship continued to rock violently as the two got shakily to their feet.

"What is that!?" Beyond shouted.

"I don't know!" Carth shouted back.

A voice came over the loud speakers, "Battle stations! We are under attack! Move people!"

The hallways were filled with Clan Hunters then, all of them scattering to their battle stations. Beyond snatched up his staff and followed Carth, who was going directly to the bridge.

It took a while, but the two finally arrived on the bridge to find a beleaguered looking Nikita peering out at the space around them through the view port. The space around them was alight with fire, and filled with ships.

"What's going on!?" Carth had to shout.

Nikita spun around, "What are _you _doing here? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Yes, I can also see that we are outnumbered. Why are we still here?"

"We can't get away! We're caught in some kind of gravitational field!"

"The ships are made of some kind of organic material," one of the technicians reported, "And all of our return fire appears to be getting sucked out of existence before they even get close to the ships!"

"Yuuzhan Vong," Carth murmured softly.

"Shields at sixty-five percent," the weapons officer shouted as the ship rocked violently again.

"How many of them are there?" Carth asked softly, but the closest man heard him, "Over two hundred. They were in the process of attacking the planet when we showed up. There are other ships in the area too, probably all caught in the same gravitational trap we are."

"Move us closer!" Nikita demanded.

"Ma'am!?" the soldier at the con shouted as though to say 'are you crazy!?'

"Do it!" Nikita ordered, and the ship immediately began to crawl closer to the ships that were bombarding the _Pride's_ shields.

"Shields at sixty percent," the weapons officer warned.

"Cease fire, place all available energy to the shields. Give the order to abandon ship, and for everyone to take all gear with them that they can."

"We don't even know where we are!" Carth said, "We could be dropping onto a hostile planet!"

"If we don't leave, we'll all be dead!" Nikita countered, and then she turned to the crew members, "You may leave your posts. Prepare make for the shuttles and escape pods. Hopefully I'll see you planet side. Godspeed."

The crew onboard the bridge all stood up shocked, but when the ship shook violently again they began to run out of the bridge. Nikita turned to Carth and Beyond and motioned for them to follow her. She led them into the room that the three High Command members used as their workspace, just off from the bridge.

"Where are Bobby and James?" Beyond asked.

"Getting ready for the evacuation. They are going to have to lead the Clan once we hit the ground. I wanted to give you this," Nikita replied as she walked quickly to the desk and pulled a metal box out of a drawer and handed it to Carth, "Now get out of here, I'm going to start the self-destruct."

"What are you giving me this for?" Carth said, "I'm staying with you."

"What?" Nikita blurted, "Why? You're too important!"

"So are you. I need to make sure you get off the ship safely," Carth turned and handed the box to Beyond, "Get to Harrod, hang on to this. Too many have died already for us to loose it now. Get onto the planet…good luck."

Beyond looked down at the small box and then looked directly into Carth's eyes before nodding. He turned and walked out of the room quickly, before another word could be said.

Nikita stared at Carth, in shocked silence. Carth could feel her gaze and without turning around he said, "What?"

"Do you realize what you've just done?" Nikita asked angrily.

"Yes," Carth said softly.

"You've given an amazing amount of power to _him? _ A loose cannon?"

"I think it was the right decision," Carth said, looking Nikita in the eyes.

The ship was panicking. Everywhere Larry turned was another cluster of running Clan Hunters, trying to find the quickest way off of the ship. After all, nobody knew how long the shields were going to last, but nobody thought it was going to be for very long.

With him were Tex and Assim, both of which he had run into shortly after the attack had started. All three of them were making for the infirmary now, he had given orders to Red, Section, Leo to get and hold one of the escape pods for them.

"Hurry!" he shouted as the crowd began to thin. Larry had not realized just how many people were in the Clan Hunters until that moment. Finally all of them reached the infirmary, and the door slid open as Doc D was on his way out.

"Ah good! You're here to help! Hurry we don't have much time!" the Doc said as he rushed back inside.

Fox was awake now, and standing with the help of a pair of crutches. He had just finished throwing on his uniform and had his rifle slung around his back. There were four other people in the room, one which was still in his bed, unable to move.

"I was wonderin' when y'all would show up!" Fox shouted, "Now let's get the heck outta here!"

"Right," Larry said as he looked around the room, "Who here can walk?"

"They all can except for him," Doc D said quickly pointing to the one last person in the bed.

Larry studied him closer before realizing who it was, "Hey Dabby."

"Hello Harrod. I see you've been coming up in the world," the programmer said faintly.

"I got him," Assim said, using his Borg enhanced arm to pick him up easily.

"Let's go!" Tex shouted as she helped a dark skinned and dark haired teenager out of another bed.

All eight of them began limping slowly out of the infirmary when the ship shuddered again.

"That was different. I think something hit us," Assim noted.

Larry's PDA buzzed softly in his pocket and he pulled it out. It was a message from Section: _All pods are gone. Sorry._

"Crap," Larry said, staring in disbelief.

"What?" Tex asked for all of them.

"Escape pods are all gone," Larry said.

"Get to the nearest hanger," the dark skinned teen who was being helped by Tex said, "I got a ship there."

"I doubt it's still there…" Larry said doubtfully.

"It is," the teen insisted, "I owned it before I joined the clan. Only I can fly it."

"Fine," Larry said, typing in a return message ordering Section, Red, and Leo to double-time to the hanger.

As the team moved down the deserted hallways, all of them noted the eerie silence ringing in their ears. Odds and ends of people's belongings sat scattered in the hallways, left behind as people abandoned their home.

"They've stopped firing," Larry said quietly, "Why?"

As though to answer his question, two extremely large humanoids stepped around the corner, directly into their path. In addition to their height, both warriors were enormous and wore black armor with bleached white skin. They had almost no nose, and no hair on their heads, but their faces were covered in tribal looking tattoos.

Both groups jumped backwards in surprise, but the invaders recovered first. They screamed loudly and charged at the group, attacking with long vine like weapons that seemed to coil and whip about as though they were alive.

Larry activated his lightsaber quickly and stepped backward, using the force to push everybody backward to give him space to move. They gave a startled gasp as they unexpectedly moved backward, but Larry paid them no mind. Meeting the first attacker head on, he parried the first attack with the whip like weapon, and struck in for the warrior's stomach.

Before he could get a strike in though, the warrior's partner body checked Larry into the bulkhead. The whip the second warrior carried suddenly hardened into a spear like staff, and the enormous warrior made to impale Larry on it but it was batted away by Tex's sword.

Reaching out in the force, Larry tried to feel out his opponents…to figure out what they were going to do next. What he found disturbed him, as the creatures were only a void in the force where they should have been.

"You guys go!" Tex shouted, "We'll catch up!" and she began a furious attack at the two enormous monsters, even though they towered over her. The group hesitated, but as Tex batted the two creatures into a corner they quickly edged around the fight and continued on at a run…or a limping run in the case of the wounded.

"Y'all better make it back!" Fox shouted.

Larry shook himself out of his surprise and began to help Tex, first by parrying a strike aimed for Tex's neck and then catching a surprised warrior in the leg with his lightsaber. Expecting the blade to cut cleanly through the leg, Larry was surprised when the armor that the warrior was wearing caught his blade and did not cut.

"It's living armor!" Tex shouted, "Aim for the joints on the sides and under the arms!"

As she shouted this, the enormous warrior she was fighting brought down a fist on the top of her head, causing her to crumple to the ground. The warrior's face split in an evil grin as he made to finish Tex off.

"NO!" Larry shouted and anger erupted in him for not being able to save Delaine…and how familiar the scene was. Throwing his hand forward an intense storm of dark blue force lightening struck the warrior and sent him flying backwards against the bulkhead. Rage continued to build in Larry, and he was dimly aware that the other warrior was trying to kill him.

Pivoting, Larry brought up his purple colored blade and feinted a strike at the warrior's wrist, before he switched and threw his blade straight up and into the monsters throat. Its eyes rolled down to look at the hole in his throat before black blood gurgled out of his neck and he collapsed.

"Thanks," Tex said, her hair now slightly bushy from the crackling lightening that arced across her head a moment ago.

Larry had to take a few deep breaths before he found himself able to speak, "How did you know about the joints in the armor?"

Tex shrugged, "They're called Yuuzhan Vong. I've run into them before…but not this many. The warriors are really dangerous, but they use all kinds of living things. Those whips for example? Those are called ampistaffs, and they're more like snakes then anything else, complete with a venomous bite. Anyway let's get out of here before more of them show up."

"Right, good idea," Larry said, and was about to take off running when he heard the sound of loud footsteps closing in from behind him. Both Tex and Larry turned, blades out just as Beyond came running around the corner, staff in one hand and a small metal box in the other.

"RUN! GO!" he shouted and did not slow down his pace, "There are more of them behind me and Nikita's about to set the self-destruct!"

Larry and Tex quickly lowered their weapons and took off at a sprint just as Beyond began to pass them. More footsteps could be heard in the hallway now, and they were getting closer.

"To the hanger!" Larry shouted, "It's not far now!"

Beyond tapped his staff against the side of the room and the hallway became covered in darkness, as though an enormous shadow gripped the ship to spite the lighting.

"Follow me!" Beyond shouted, "Hopefully we'll lose them in the dark!"

The three of them ran on until they came to the enormous door that guarded the entrance to the hanger. Tapping the code into the door frantically, the sound of the door opening was a welcome relief to the tired Clan Hunters. Tex slipped under the door just as it was high enough for her to roll under, followed by Larry, and lastly Beyond.

Inside the hanger the shadows that Beyond had summoned were all gone, and the only ship left inside was a small Imperial shuttle, painted in Star Destroyer white.

Assim was outside the loading ramp at the rear of the shuttle, the barrels on his minigun already spinning, "GET INSIDE!" the borg enhanced human shouted.

Pulling on the force, Larry leapt up and over Assim's head and onto the ramp where he ducked inside, Tex and Beyond were forced to sprint the last distance with more Yuuzhan Vong on their heels.

"Merry Christmas ya filthy animals!" Assim shouted as he depressed the triggers, sending a steel rain of lead into the oncoming warriors. The ramp behind him began to close, and he stepped inside in the confusion he was sewing into the enemy ranks.

The ramp finally closed, and the shuttle began to hover before it accelerated toward the opening of the hanger. Picking up more speed then was really safe, it flew out of the hanger like a bullet out of a gun, and into chaos that was the battle around them.

The nearest Yuuzhan Vong cruiser had immediately spotted the vessel trying to desperately escape and was moving to intercept when the _Pride of Clan Hunters_ exploded with enough force to send the cruiser careening backward and damaged it badly enough to forget about the small escaping shuttle.

As for the shuttle itself, the explosion was too close for the pilot to be able to maneuver safely and the S-foils that were designed to give the shuttle maneuverability were blown off. The shuttle began to spin end over end, and was drawn into the atmosphere of the planet that the fight was taking place over. Remarkably, the heat shield somehow managed to remain intact which kept the people inside from scattering into a thousand pieces along with the shuttle.

The last thing Larry thought about before he blacked out was…how familiar the whole thing was.

"Otacon."

"What is it Snake?"

"I'm in."

"Excellent. How'd you get into the mountain anyway?" the scientist asked, pushing his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.

"Cardboard box," Solid Snake replied over the CODEC as he glanced around a corner. For a military base in the middle of a mountain in the middle of a country, the guards here were well armed, alert, and well organized. It was almost as though they were expecting an attack at any moment, which puzzled Snake.

"It's amazing that they could keep a discovery like this secret," Otacon said as he grabbed a handful of Reece's Pieces from a bowl next to the computer he was on.

"You're telling me, how did we find out about this place again?" Snake asked as he ducked into a supply closet using the ID he had 'liberated' from a guard who was currently shoved in his own locker, unconscious.

"Anonymous tip," Otacon said matter-of-factly.

Snake groaned softly, "I thought we stopped taking those, after what happened with Metal Gear Ray? Remember that? It was a trap."

"Don't worry, I did some checking around on my own before deciding that the tip was legit," the technician said, "You know what they say right? Fool me once…"

"Yeah right," Snake said as he pulled the grate off of a ventilation shaft.

"You're not going to crawl through the ventilation ducts are you?" Otacon asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" Snake asked, "It's always worked for me in the past."

"Two reasons, first of all _Mythbusters_ proved it as an impractical form of entry and second there are alarms inside of the shafts and sensors so advanced you wouldn't be able to avoid them."

"So just what am I supposed to do? Walk right up to the control room?"

"Sure, you just need the right wardrobe. Look around."

Snake turned away from the ventilation shaft and looked at the room he was standing in. All around him were racks of clothing, from the forest camouflaged BDUs that the Air Force wore to the Dress Blues and even white lab coats that doctors and scientists wore.

"Ah…" Snake said, "That'll do it."

Larry was standing on a wooden stage in a tavern that smelled badly of stale beer and smoke. He was limp, as though all of his muscles had suddenly disappeared, but something was holding him up. When he tried to look around he found that he could not.

Jeers and whistles called and a beer bottle whizzed past his head and smashed into the wall behind him. Suddenly, his head jerked up on its own and his limbs began to move without any control from him. He began to dance up and down on the stage to music that came from an unseen place.

His jaw opened without his control and he began to sing words that seemed familiar, like something out of a dream, but he could not grasp where he had heard them before.

"_There's too many men_

_Too many people_

_Making too many problems…_

_And there's not much Love to go 'round_

_Can't you see this is a Land of Confusion?" _

To his horror, Larry realized that there were strings attached to his arms and legs, and they were making him sing in dance. Larry strained to look up, to see who was pulling them, who was controlling him, but it was no use. The song continued:

"_Ah Ah AH!_

_This is the World we live in!_

_Oh Oooh oh!_

_And these are the hands we're given!_

_So stand up and let's start trying…_

_To make this a place worth living in…" _

Larry wanted to scream, this kind of control was an existence he wanted no part of. The patrons of the tavern only screamed louder, as though they wanted more and more…and so Larry kept singing and dancing to the beat against his will…

"_Hey Superman, where are you now?_

_When everything's gone wrong somehow…._

_These men of steel…these men of power_

_Are losing control by the hour…" _

Larry tried to focus on the people in the crowd. To his surprise, he found out that he recognized them. In the front row sat twelve heads of state that Larry knew of, ranging from the President of the United States to the Prime Minister of India. More surprising though was that they appeared to be chained to the table they were all sitting at. Their eyes were open in horror, and their mouths writhing with words that Larry could not hear, a noiseless scream.

_"This is the time…_

_This is the place_

_There's not much love to go around…_

_This is a Land of Confusion."_

Tex, Fox, Assim, and all the other Clan Hunters he had ever known, were at a table in the back. Some were judging him silently with cold eyes, while others were openly jeering and cursing him. Larry was panicking now, he desperately did not want to be where he was, but his singing continued on…

"_This is the World we live in_

_And these are the hands we're given_

_So use them and let's start trying_

_To make it a place worth living in…"_

Then he saw her. The one person he knew was going to be there and the one person he did not want to see. Delaine sat at a table all by herself, they made eye contact and she smiled at him briefly. Larry continued to stare at her as she stood up gracefully, and walked out of the tavern through a door at the back of the room. She glanced over her shoulder and waved to him, a final goodbye.

Rage filled Larry, anger at whoever was pulling his strings, anger at his friends for not helping him, anger at the world for sticking him in this position. Most of all, he felt anger at himself for being unable to save Delaine. If only he had been faster…

His blood on fire, Larry used every ounce of energy in his body to pull away from the strings controlling him. Finally, one of the strings began to unravel and then it snapped, and then another and another. A few seconds later, all of the strings broke and Larry stood freely without support from his strings.

He looked up to see who was controlling him, and was shocked to see the grinning face of John Call looking down at him. So startled, he did not notice that someone had appeared on stage with him until they tapped him on the shoulder.

Looking behind him, Larry nearly jumped at the sight of a nearly naked woman with blue skin. He had seen her before…it was Allied's Guardian Force…the one he had used in the battle with the SeeDs.

The woman's brows furrowed, and she wound back and slapped Larry hard across the face and shouted, "Wake up! Wake up!"

Larry opened his eyes, Section was sitting above him looking down at him with concern. Behind her was a bright blue sky with scattered clouds dotting the sky, the sun beating down on them.

Larry sat up and looked around, and saw that the shuttle was broken into several pieces nearby. Section was still staring at Larry with concern on her face, unsure at how he was.

"Are you alright?" she asked tensely.

Larry checked himself over, he appeared to be unhurt except for a few scrapes and bruises, he felt fine. Looking over at Section, he was shocked to see an enormous gash down her face.

"Forget about me, what about you?" Larry asked.

"I'm fine," Section said, pulling her hair out of her face, "The Doc patched me up."

For some reason Larry could not quite fathom, anger began to bubble up in him, "Those bloody Vong!" he shouted, "We need to be able to travel! To gather the _Ta'veren!"_

"Calm down," Section said, "We can't do that if we're all dead."

"I am calm," Larry said, grinding his teeth. Standing up, he realized just how badly bruised he was, "SITHSPAWN!" he swore loudly.

"What's wrong with you?" Doc D asked, limping over to where Larry was standing.

"Just…hurting," Larry said through clenched teeth.

"Hold still," Doc said as he closed his eyes, "CURE!" he shouted pointing a finger at Larry.

"Ah!" Larry groaned as the warmth of the white mage's cure spell slid down his body, wiping away the aches and pains.

"You're not bad compared to the rest of us. Beyond is as healthy as a bull, and Assim just about as well off. Red, Leo, Section, Tex, and Fox are slightly worse then you, but I've patched them up as best as I can. Dabby has seen better days, but he'll be able to walk in about an hour…"

"And the others?" Larry asked, sensing the answer.

Doc D hesitated, "The pilot and the other two we pulled out of the infirmary are dead," the Doc said with finality.

Larry nodded sadly, "What supplies do we have?"

"Just what we had with us when we left the _Pride_," Section said.

"Any idea where we are?"

"Somewhere primitive," Section said, motioning to her MUT which was more dented then when Larry had last seen it, "There are no computer systems anywhere nearby, and not even any other users nearby. If there are any other survivors off of the _Pride_, I'll be able to detect them."

"Oh…that's right," Larry said sadly as he looked up into the sky. The _Pride _was no where in sight. He was sad that the ship was gone, it had been his home for such a long time…

"The _Pillar of Spring_ actually managed to make it past the blockade," Section said, "But it had to set down somewhere on the planet. I'm fairly sure it won't be able to leave the planet without extensive repairs."

"Great," Larry groaned, "Are there any settlements around here? Somewhere that could give use a clue as to where we are?"

"Sure, about fifteen kilometers to the east," Doc D said.

"Once everybody can walk, gather what supplies are left and we're going to make for that town," Larry ordered.

"Yes, sir," both replied automatically. That was when Larry knew that he had just taken command.

"Excuse me?" came a voice from behind Snake. The infiltration specialist turned to see a blonde haired, blue eyed woman looking at him expectantly.

"Yes?" he asked.

"One of us is in the wrong bathroom," she said crossing her arms.

_Whoops_, Snake thought, "I'm sorry," he mumbled and he moved to brush past the woman dressed in uniform.

"I usually know all of the scientists around here, but I don't know you," the woman said as he tried to brush past her.

_Uh oh_.

"That's because I just got transferred here…Major," Snake said with a glance at the golden rank insignia.

"Oh really, from where?"

"Tell her you worked with Dr. Grady on the Metal Gear project," Otacon said helpfully.

"Metal Gear? I haven't heard of that project," the major said skeptically.

"Excuse me ma'am, but could you please tell me who I'm being interrogated by?"

"Samantha Carter, Stargate Command. And you are?"

"…David," Snake replied.

"David what?" Major Carter asked. Snake rolled his eyes and produced his silenced tranquilizer pistol he always carried with him. Carter's eyes widened as Snake expertly fired off one shot, which nailed her in the center of the forehead.

The SGC major's eyes rolled up into her head and she fell backwards…or would have had Snake not caught her. Dragging her carefully into one of the stalls, he set the now dozing Carter onto the toilet. Before he left the women's bathroom, he had one more keycard to add to his collection.

"Real smooth," Otacon said sarcastically in his ear.

"Shut up, Otacon," Snake growled.

"You know I've heard about her before right? She's the SGC's best scientist, she's more into astrophysics research then the robotics and computer programming _I_ prefer…"

"Otacon?"

"Yes, Snake?"

"Will they be missing her anytime soon?"

"I hope not, it is really early in the morning, most of the complex is asleep except for the night shift guards and the technicians who monitor the Stargate," Otacon said.

"Good," Snake said as he followed the signs around the concrete walls which were probably thick enough to withstand a direct hit from a thermonuclear warhead. Soon enough, he found his way to the Stargate control room which he scanned Carter's keycard to gain entry to.

Tranquilizer gun held in front of him, he walked up a set of stairs and saw that the two people in the control room had their backs turned to him. Through a large glass window sat a long metal ramp which lead up to the stone circle which was the Stargate. One of the scientists heard him walk up the metal staircase and turned to look at him, but Snake managed to fire off a shot into the back of the first scientist's neck, dropping him into unconsciousness immediately.

The weapon had to be reloaded manually after each shot, so in the time it took for Snake to expertly feed another round into chamber the second scientist was already moving toward the alarm. Snake's shot was rushed and hit the second scientist in the shoulder, which took a few seconds for him to get knocked out, long enough for him to hit the alarm. Klaxons sounded and red lights flashed, alerting the instillation.

"Quickly Snake!" Otacon shouted, "Take the flash drive I gave you and plug it into the computer! The program I've created will do the rest!"

Snake quickly crossed the room, shedding his white lab coat disguise and pulling out a half gig sized flash drive. He quickly found a USB port on the computer and jammed the small memory chip into it. The computer whirled and the program instantly overwrote any security subroutines that were built into the system, and the Stargate began to spin dialing the address that Otacon had programmed it to.

Soldiers armed with M-16s and dressed in full battle gear stormed into the gate room just after Snake. A grey haired man with the rank of Colonel trained his P90 on Snakes back, laser sight centered between his shoulder blades.

"Stop!" The grey haired man shouted. Snake put his hands up and turned around, facing the large assortment of weapons pointed at him. The gate continued to spin and dial behind him, despite the attempts of the soldiers in the control room to stop it.

"Snake duck!" Otacon shouted in his, and Snake dropped to the floor just as the gate activated, the event horizon solidifying behind him and expanding outward over his head for a moment. Snake used the distraction to produce a flash bang from his gear and quickly pull the pin and throw it into the pack of soldiers from his stomach.

In the confusion and yelling that following, Snake leapt up on his feet and dove into the event horizon, and was instantly transported ten thousand light years away.

"Good luck," Otacon said over the codec before the gate closed, leaving Snake stranded on the other side of the galaxy.

Number Six's eyes opened in surprise. She was sitting cross legged in her room, meditating when suddenly another presence entered her mind. It quickly disappeared from her mind, but it had been enough for her to know something was wrong.

With a thought, she summoned Number Three, Number Four, and Number Five to her, and all came within moments. They had been preparing their ships for a departure to go after one of the last two _Ta'veren_ that were still unaccounted for.

"We have an intruder," she said without preamble, "Check the Stargate and the surrounding areas. Have the guards double their patrols…nothing can go wrong now. _Nothing_."

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

"How far did you say that settlement was?" Larry asked Section.

"It didn't seem like it was this far," she admitted.

"Look!" Beyond shouted back, looking into the distance. Ahead was a large area of wooded trees and what appeared to be smoke rising from just in front of the treeline.

"People?" Dabby asked.

"Or enemies," Tex said darkly.

"Let's find out," Larry ordered. Leo and Red checked the amount of ammunition they had and exchanged glances with each other.

"What is it?" Larry asked.

"Almost out of ammo," Red said, the ODST did not like that at all.

"So am I," Fox said, "I reckon' I got five shots."

"Make them count," Larry suggested.

The team moved out in a squad column, Larry on point with Tex directly behind him and to the right, Assim and Red on the flanks behind both Larry and Tex. It looked like a large arrowhead streaking toward the woods. It took them about forty-five minutes to reach the edge of the woods, just as it was beginning to get dark.

Larry's team relaxed a little more when they got closer, as the Clan Hunter's flag was raised up on a makeshift flagpole. The ODSTs had begun digging into the ground with entrenching tools, setting up a perimeter.

The weary Clan Hunters began to move past the perimeter, after briefly talking with an ODST Lieutenant in charge of the perimeter. In the center of the camp sat a crashed escape pod from the _Pillar of Spring_, a landed shuttle, and several ground vehicles.

"So they didn't have to walk," Larry murmured to himself. As he got closer to the crashed escape pod, he spotted James. He was arguing with a Clan Hunter with red hair and Lt. Commander ranks.

"I don't care what you have to do Ginge," James was saying, "We need to get ready to get all of the supplies together and move tomorrow at first light!"

"And I'm telling you we don't even know where the Stargate is! Much less how to get to it before the Vong swoop down on us! I don't know why they haven't done so already!"

"Just do it!" James shouted, "That's an order!"

Ginge snapped to attention and gave a salute, though he was clearly angry at being ignored. James turned and looked in surprise, "Doc! Harrod! Good to see you guys! We got lots of injured people around here who need your help."

"Where are the medical supplies?" Doc asked, his voice professional.

"They're in the shuttle," James said, and the Doc went off without another. James turned to Larry, "Glad to see you, Jedi. Things are bad, but they're looking up. We need to get out of here though, as the planet is clearly controlled by the Yuuzhan Vong…at least from space. I have no idea why we haven't been wiped out already."

"Maybe something's keeping them out?" Larry suggested.

James snorted, "Yeah right. Anyway, we managed to get Link off of the _Pride_ in one of the first shuttles after the evacuation. He's asleep right now…and so should you guys. It's getting dark, and we have work to do but we'll keep the fires going to draw in more Clan Hunters who may be in the area. You and your team get some rest."

"We could use some more ammunition," Leo spoke up.

"See Ginge, he's supply commander. I don't know how much we have left," James said and turned away, signaling the conversation at an end.

Larry and the rest of the team moved closer toward the woods, where there was still open ground for them to sit down on. The trees were dark and ominous at this hour, and nobody wanted to go any closer then necessary.

"Ya know? I really am tired of playing this game," Fox groaned.

"It's not a game anymore," Larry observed solemnly. The conversation died, and one by one the Clan Hunters began to fade off to sleep. Larry remained awake for a few minutes longer, something about the forest did not seem right. The feeling he sensed from them reminded him of bear who just found out its den had been invaded.

Exhaustion overcame Larry, and he fell into a thankfully dreamless sleep.


	26. Chapter 25: Recovery

Chapter 25: Recovery

"Have we figured out the gate address yet?" asked the bald man in dress blues with the two star rank of Major General.

"Whoever wrote the program tried very hard to cover their tracks," Samantha Carter, Major, USAF said as she pushed her laptop screen toward the base commander, "But I think we've uncovered the planet that the intruder went to, yes."

The conference room was more crowded then usual, the presence of an additional two SG teams made the air stuffy and the elbow room nonexistent. In addition to the general and the major sat Colonel Jack O'Neill (USAF, Retired and reinstated), Daniel Jackson, PhD, Teal'c, and SG teams 12 and 13.

"That gate address wasn't in our database," Carter went on, "It's on a remote planet in this quadrant of our galaxy." The image came up on the screen and zoomed in on the planet in question.

"Any clue as to why this man went through all the trouble to break in to our facility just to strand himself on the other end of the galaxy?" General Hammond asked.

"Yeah, well I'm more interested in knowing how he knew about this gate address," Daniel said.

"And how he knew about the facility in the first place," the team leader from SG 12 suggested.

"Yes, we'll be looking into that. In the meantime after we send the MOUNT through the gate to make sure that the planet our ninja went to is not underwater or without atmosphere, all three of your teams will be sent to the planet in order to bring him back into our custody," Hammond said, "Gear up and move out."

As the general stood up, everybody else in the room with the exception of Teal'c and Daniel Jackson stood at attention and sounded off with, "Yes sir!"

* * *

The six figures surrounded the cloaked man, weapons out and upraised. The blonde haired woman frowned in consternation, "Who are you?" she demanded. 

"Do not bother trying to read my mind. It won't work, but know that I am here to help you," the cloaked man said, his voice distorted to an unrecognizable growl.

"Words!" the tallest shouted, spinning his brightmage's staffs one in each hand. In a few quick strides he was on top of the man and brought one of them down on top of the man's head. The shadowy figure raised a curved sword above his head and the staff shattered, sending the large man backwards.

"How can you help us in this existence?" the bald headed man asked, his two axes glinting dangerously in the light.

"I can offer you a way out," the cloaked man said, flashing the engraving of a heron on the blade's hilt.

"Impossible!" the other woman shouted crossing her large arms over her chest.

"We have been looking for a way out for sometime," the blonde leader said as she helped the tall one back up on his feet again, "There is no way. We cannot get out."

"Your situation has come to my attention," the shadowy figure said arrogantly, "And I have decided to take pity on you."

"_We_ don't need pity!" the shortest shouted, clearly outraged.

"No," the shadowy figure agreed, "But you do need direction. I cannot allow beings such as yourself to roam about DreamLand killing indiscriminately."

"We'll listen to what you have to say, before we decide to kill you," the blonde said, restraining the tallest from attempting to assault the man again.

"This whole realm is the creation a single man. He is the keystone that holds this world together, remove the man and you will have your exit."

"You would have us kill the administrator!" the third member of the group blurted loudly, "That's impossible!"

"Not if you have the right items. Just as _he _is the keystone, there are other stones that make up this world. If you collect them, then you will have the edge you need against the administrator. Lastly, all you need is something to finish off the rest of this place…this world without dreams," the unknown man said, his voice sounding amused.

"And just what is so powerful that it can destroy this whole universe?" the blonde leader asked.

"An ancient weapon powerful to kill a god," the shadowed man said, a smile on his lips knowing just how fully he had them.

* * *

Beyond sat straight up off of the ground from where he had been sleeping. The dreams were beginning to annoy him, making sound rest possible. Their clarity did not help either, as dreams were usually fuzzy or easily forgotten…or nonexistent usually. 

Beyond checked the metal box that Nikita had given him. It was still secure and unopened, but Beyond was tempted to open the box to see what was inside. He supposed that he should have given it to either Harrod or else James…but he could not bring himself to part with it.

For some odd reason, the shadowy figure from his dream came back to him. '_An weapon powerful to kill a god,'_ the man had said.

Curiosity began to overwhelm the tall man, and with a quick glance to make sure that nobody was watching him he began to work at the lock. A few minutes later the brightmage managed to get past the lock and he carefully opened the lid. The Index glowed bright green up at Beyond, and he gasped in shock.

_Why did he give this to _me!? Beyond thought desperately. Unsure about what to do with the Index, he quickly shut the box and shoved it back into his pockets. Knowing that sleep was not going to help him anymore, he stood up and began walking among the sleeping bodies. The darkness around them was almost smothering it was so thick, even for one who knew how to weave shadows.

The defenses set up by the ragged survivors had long since been completed, and the high ranking officers left had decided to let the clan rest up for the night. Some people had been selected to take shifts guarding the encampment, and Beyond could hear the guards murmuring in their foxholes.

There was one figure actually standing up, though Beyond could not tell who he was until he was right on top of him. Harrod turned and looked at Beyond with bleak eyes.

"You should be sleeping," Beyond said.

"I can't. I haven't been able to sleep in so long. This whole disaster doesn't make sense…" Harrod replied. He snapped his arm out in an angry gesture, as though trying to ward off something.

"A lot of things haven't made sense in a long time," Beyond said quietly.

"This planet is one of those things," Harrod said, "Look! You can see the Yuuzhan Vong ships hanging in orbit! But not one on the ground…"

Beyond remained silent as Harrod began pacing anxiously, "And then!" Harrod continued frantically, "The Vong themselves do not exist in the Force!_Everything_ has some signature in the Force! Even those trees are dangerous…I can sense their anger at our presence…"

Beyond had heard Number Six say similar things, so he let Larry continue on…he seemed to want to be venting. Beyond knew how being stuck in another world against your will could be unsettling, but he had gotten used to it.

Harrod suddenly stopped talking, and went very still. His arm silently went for his lightsaber and he held it tightly in his grip.

"Something's coming…not the Vong…or else I would not be able to sense them…but they're coming!" Harrod's eyes twitched oddly and he began to scowl at the darkness, "Wake up the camp! Hurry!"

"What is it?" Beyond asked, staff coming up as he tried to see what Harrod was sensing, but he was too late. The jedi ignited his lightsaber and sprinted off into the darkness, after a few moments even Harrod's purple blade had disappeared into the night.

Staring dumbfounded for a moment, Beyond moved forward to talk to the perimeter guard who were more confused then he was. As he opened his mouth to explain, sudden howls and cries of outrage could be heard in the darkness.

The guards were suddenly alert, and the ones nearest to Beyond racked back the bolt on the Browning .50 caliber machine gun. The sound was loud and familiar enough to wake up the people around them. When darkly armored figures began pouring out of the night, the sounds of machine gun fire quickly woke up the rest of the camp.

In the chaos that followed, the perimeter guards were quickly reinforced by the remaining ODSTs and Clan Hunters as they joined the fight against a large force of enemies. Nobody knew who they were and nobody asked, but they were armed with mostly edged weapons while a handful carried bows.

Beyond cracked one of the oncoming monsters on the head with his staff, and turned his body in time to put the end of his staff into another's stomach just as it tried to split open his skull. A quick flick of the wrist sent the staff's end into the attacker's jaw and backwards.

Another one came from behind, Beyond tried to turn but was too slow. The monster grinned eagerly though crooked teeth and a black face, oddly human. As the creature tried to bring its slightly curved sword down on Beyond's face, Tex darted in and stuck her sword through the monster's throat.

"What are these things?" Beyond shouted, though he had fought similar creatures he had never seen anything fight with such ferocity.

"I don't know!" Tex shouted as another creature fell to her sword.

"Urk-Hai," Harrod said coldly, appearing out of the darkness his face blood spattered and glowing dangerously in the light of his lightsaber, "Created by Sauroman to be superior to orcs…I know where we are now…and I think I know why the Yuuzhan Vong have been unable to land here!"

After about a few more minutes of intense fighting, the steam of Urk-Hai began to lessen and then finally stop. Soon the night was silent again, except for the shouts of the wounded for medics and healers. James approached Larry out of the darkness, cautiously appraising the sanity of the heavily breathing squad leader. Link and Navi followed James, glaring at the dead Urk-Hai intently, as though they would leap to life.

"What?" Harrod demanded when he saw James' expression.

"Nothing…" James said slowly, "This attack has forced us to remain here longer then we had hoped. We wanted to be out of here at daybreak, but with all the wounded…"

"That's unfortunate," Harrod coldly.

"Indeed, more so since we need to find the location of the Stargate on this planet in order to get off of it. Now that we no longer have anything in the way of ships…"

"Did you capture anybody? Anything left from the raiding party?" Harrod asked abruptly.

James frowned at the question, "No, of course not. We killed everything that moved."

"Are you sure?" Harrod demanded.

"Of course," James responded, eyeing Harrod with curiosity, "Why?"

"If I'm right, then there should have been two small people with them, probably barefooted…"

"Hobbits," Tex said, recognizing the description.

"Yeah," Harrod said.

"I'll check the remains…but I don't think anyone saw anything like that," James said.

"I'll help…because if we did kill the hobbits, then we are going to have one very angry_Ta'veren_ chasing after them…and us."

* * *

Snake looked through the blades of grass that he was lying in at the guard who was standing ten or twelve feet away from him. Though the intelligence Snake had on the facility did not suggest anything about armed guards who were also members of the God Killers, he was not surprised at their presence. 

The man had gotten some message a few minutes earlier and had gone alert, clearly looking for intruders. It had forced Snake to distract the man by knocking down a hornets nest right next to him.

In addition to effectively getting rid of the man for a few minutes, it was extremely funny to watch a full-grown man with an automatic weapon and body armor scurry away in a panic.

But now the man was back, and just as Snake was getting ready to enter the base. Knowing that he would be missed, and he would have to do well to hide the body, Snake waited till the man had his back turned and then leapt from his hiding place. The man turned at the last second, but it was too late. Already inside the man's range, Snake grabbed the man's arms and slammed him into the ground rendering the man unconscious.

For good measure, Snake fired one dart into the man's head and began dragging him into the foliage. After careful observation, Snake determined that radio check-ins were ever ten minutes, and he had decided to act about two minutes after the most recent check-in.

Knowing that time was against him, Snake ran into the forest knowing that the entrance to the underground compound was nearby. Spotting a camouflage painted door directly off to his right, Snake crouched behind a tree in order to figure out what kind of security was placed on it. Spotting a small black bulb sitting directly over the door, Snake knew that it was a camera.

_Amateurs, _he thought to himself. Guessing that a squad would most likely be dispatched to investigate the disappearance of the guard, Snake positioned himself behind the door so that they would not spot him.

Sure enough, a small contingent of more generic looking guards ran out of the door a few minutes later. Moving carefully, Snake slipped into the open door behind the last guard and under the camera.

* * *

Aragorn topped the rise following the path that he had been following for the many past days with little or no sleep or food. Legolas came up behind Aragorn hardly looking winded, his keen elf eyes searching the horizon for any sign of their quarry. 

"They have led us directly to Fangorn Forest…it will be difficult to track them in there," Legolas said.

"And they are at the doorstep of Isengard," Aragorn added darkly, "We must pick up the pace."

The sounds of heavy footfalls and even heavier breathing announced the arrival of Gimli, the dwarf.

"Pick _up_ the pace?!" The dwarf managed to spit out between gasps for air, "We've been running for three _days_ Aragorn!"

"I doubt we shall have to run much further," Legolas said, his eyes narrowed to slits as he peered into the tree line, "There is a large camp of armed men at the tree line…and the Uruk-hai are dead."

"Can you see Merry or Pippin?" Gimli asked.

The elf shook his head sadly, "No, my friend. They are probably inside the encampment, though as prisoners or guests, I am unsure."

"They are neither," came a voice from the trio. All three spun, drawing weapons as though a horde of Orcs had sprung up from the grass.

Instead of Orcs, there was a man in a long robe and a woman dressed in a white shirt and slacks. Both were armed but neither made a move to attack the trio. Both looked shaken but injured, and Aragorn lowered his sword.

"Who are you?" Gimli demanded.

"I am Carth and this is Nikita," the man said, "She leads the camp of armed men down there."

"Who are they?" Aragorn asked. Gimli and Legolas finally sheathed their weapons, though their mistrust showed clearly on their faces.

"Travelers," Carth answered, "They've become lost and are on their way to an important battle. One that will determine the fate of all of us."

Nikita remained silent, studying the three facing her with a serious scowl. She was tired, since she and Carth had been moving all night in order to get near the largest gathering of Clan Hunters on this particular planet. She had just about reached her limit, and was tired of hearing Carth speak in riddles and vague references.

"Your friends aren't down there, but they are safe. There is someone down there, however who does need to see you to explain what has been going on," Nikita said briskly. Carth glanced at her with a little bit of irritation showing on his face.

"See us?" Legolas asked, "How do you know who we are?"

"That will be explained soon," Carth said quickly before Nikita could answer, "Nikita will take you down there. I must go elsewhere…"

"He's going to see some other important people," Nikita said hurriedly, "Now let's go!"

The three exchanged glances, "We have been running for the past three days, Aragorn. A bit of meat and some cheese would be delicious right about now," Gimli said.

Aragorn nodded, and Nikita led the way down the hill. Carth watched them for a moment before he turned and began walking in the opposite direction. By the time he had reached his third step, he had vanished.

* * *

The black haired boy regained consciousness hours later, and sat up groggily and looked around him. Squinting around himself he could hardly see anything, until he grabbed his glasses off the floor and put them back on his face. The room looked exactly like the Gryffindor Common Room, with the addition of bars surrounding it. 

"Are you alright?" A woman asked from another cell.

"Clearly he is. Those fools want him alive!" Sneered a tall Asian man who had his hair in a topknot, who was in a different cell all together.

The woman glared back and then returned to the boy with a smile, "My name is Yuna…and that arrogant fool over there is Cao Cao. What's your name?"

The regarded her for a moment, the boy stood up, "I'm Harry…Harry Potter."

"How did you get here?" Yuna asked.

"Did you not see that ugly blue-eyed woman who carried him in here?" Cao Cao demanded, "Clearly he was captured…"

"I know that you ambitious old fool!" Yuna snapped, "I'm trying to get some information on our captors!"

"Fine, then dig away. You'll learn nothing of value though."

"They came in the night…they took me right out of my dormitory," Harry said, rubbing the lightening bolt scar on his forehead, "Oh no! We tried to stop them…but they were too powerful…Ron!" Harry gasped as the memories came flooding back to him.

Cao Cao remained quiet for once, staring impassively at the boy moaned as he realized that the God Killers had destroyed everything close to him. Harry threw his head backward and screamed loudly, the sound reverberating off of the walls. When he stopped screaming, a look of pure hatred was in his eyes.

"They will _pay_!" he screamed.

Yuna nodded, an angry snarl spreading across her own face, "They will! For Wakka!"

"For Ron!"

Cao Cao shrugged, "For my ambition!" he shouted.

* * *

Snake had no idea how complex the bunker had been until he had found himself lost inside of it. Seriously, how did anyone expect him to get any work done without an accurate map of the places he was supposed to go. 

Poking his head around the corner of the hallway cautiously, he spotted a guard and a security camera which happened to be looking the other way at the time. He was surprised that with all the advanced technology that would make his job so much harder this facility was equipped with only the most primitive of surveillance equipment.

Shoving that thought aside, Snake wondered just how he was going to get past the guard and the security camera both. He could easily deal with the guard, but if he knocked out the guard and left the body in the hallway somebody would see it when the camera swiveled back onto the guard's body. Equally frustrating was the fact that if he disabled the camera the guard was sure to notice.

The problem solved itself when the guard came around the corner, and with a very shocked expression on his face. Snake reacted instinctively, grabbing the man by the back of the neck before he could get his rifle up and make things messy. With a quick thrust of his arm, Snake threw the man's face into the wall, both breaking his nose and rendering him unconscious.

Searching the man for anything useful, an idea came to him. Quickly backtracking to a small storage closet, Snake stripped the man of his uniform and weapon and quickly began the patrol down the hallway where the guard had been before. Leaving the guard's post would alert the guards to the absence of one of their original ones…making his disguise useless.

Sighing to himself he began patrolling until he was relieved of his patrol…hopefully soon. He was on a timetable after all…

* * *

"And that's pretty much the situation," Larry said finishing his report. The NPCs of Legolas, Gimli, and most importantly the King of Gondor, another_Ta'veren_. Nikita and James were also present. 

"You want me to join you?" Aragorn said after a long pause.

"Yes," Larry said, "We're all in trouble, and you are part of the solution for getting us out of here."

"I cannot. I cannot abandon Merry and Pippin," Aragorn said.

Nikita and James threw their hands up, "There are Yuuzhan Vong hovering around this planet. They destroy _everything!_ I have no idea why they haven't landed yet," James shouted.

"If we can kill orcs we can kill whatever these monsters are from the sky," Gimli said fiercely.

"Maybe, but can you kill both orcs and the vong warriors? The real battle is not here," Nikita said.

"What if we agree to continue the search?" James asked.

"How would we come with you and continue searching for Merry and Pippin at the same time?" Legolas asked.

"That's easy. We have people pursuing us, and we're stationary with wounded and gathering our scattered clan. We're sending a squad a head with the other _ta'veren_ we managed to gather. We'll find your missing Halflings and you go with that squad to fight the next battle," James said.

Aragorn was silent for a long time, "Very well. I'll go."

"I will stay and help with the search," Legolas said.

"As will I," Gimli said robustly.

"Excellent," Nikita said, "The squad you'll be going with leaves in the hour. Time is a luxury we do not have."

"Heard that one before," Gimli grumbled.

"Harrod, come with me. You're the squad leader for this mission," Nikita said, motioning for her to follow him.

"Things are bad," was the first thing that she said, "We are scattered across all of Middle Earth, we're low on supplies, most of us are wounded, and to top it all off we still can't log out of this damn game."

"Thanks for the rousing speech," Larry said dryly, as he continued to follow her, "What's the good news?"

"The good news is that we have enough vehicles to transport your squad and the two_Ta'veren_ to this planet's Stargate. Your orders are to take them to the Stargate and go to this gate address I'm sending you," Nikita said, tapping her stylus to her PDA screen.

"What're the vehicles we'll be driving?"

"They're all ODST vehicles, two warthogs and one mongoose," Nikita said pointing them out.

"Mongoose?" Larry asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's an All Terrain Vehicle. Fast and real strong, should be useful to you guys. We'll follow you as soon as we're able."

"What are our orders when we get through the gate?" Larry asked.

"Carth should meet you there," Nikita said, "He'll explain everything to you there."

"Carth? How did he get to the gate before us?" Larry said questioningly.

"No idea," Nikita said honestly, "Anyway we're removing Red and Leo from your squad. We need them here, you'll still have Tex, Fox, Section, Beyond, Link will be going with you of course, and Aragorn. You got enough swords in that group to arm the Scottish to invade England, so I'm sending Assim with you too."

"I thought Fox was all shot up," Larry said.

"Doc D does good work," Nikita said, "Get your crew together and head out."

"Yes, ma'am," Larry said as he turned to leave.

"Oh, Harrod?" Nikita said waveringly.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I'm tired of playing this game. Give em' hell."


	27. Chapter 26: Deployment

Chapter 26: Deployment

The last remaining vehicles that belonged to the Clan Hunters ripped over the plains of Middle Earth, sending dirt and rocks flying in their wake. Larry glanced over his shoulder to make sure the two warthogs that were tailing him were still able to keep up with him. He drove alone on the one mongoose leading the way to the lone Stargate that was to the west.

In the center of their formation sat a warthog that had been fit to carry extra people, and had Tex driving while Assim, Link, and Aragorn sat in the passenger seats facing outward. Each of them watched the horizon for anything that might prove to be hostile. Bringing up the rear of their formation was their last warthog which was driven by Fox while Section sat in the passenger seat and Beyond stood on the mounted minigun, scanning the desolate terrain to the rear.

Larry was not sure exactly what to expect if they reached the Stargate in one piece, but something told him he was making the right decision. Something had gone horribly wrong in DreamLand…not that it took a genius to figure that out, but Larry was unsure exactly why everybody expected _him_ to fix everything.

Shrugging the thought off, he looked behind him again and qued the throat mic he was wearing, "Everybody okay back there?" he asked.

"Doin' just fine in the back," Fox drawled, "How much further till we're there?"

"Not long," Larry said, "Another few hours."

"The sooner we get there the better," Assim added over the radio, "With Vong ships in the air and God know what else on the ground…" he left the thought unfinished, and they continued to drive in silence.

* * *

Colonel Jack O'Neill stepped out of the Stargate and swept the surrounding area carefully, his P90 held at the ready, the Jaffa Teal'c and the rest of SG1 followed through behind him swiftly, followed by SG teams 12 and 13.

Using hand signals, the team spread out into a circular formation, each member looking out so that there were no blind spots. O'Neill made eye contact with the other team leaders and tugged at his collar, signaling the leadership to come to him.

"Lieutenant Haaser, I want you to keep you team here and guard the Stargate," the colonel said in a whisper to the SG12 team leader, "We might need to come back here in a hurry."

The Lieutenant nodded and walked off silently gathering his team and repositioning them around the gate. O'Neill motioned to the remaining soldiers and looked at Teal'c, who pointed at the ground and then in a direction leading off and to the right away from the gate through dense jungle terrain. He had picked up the trail of their intruder and the two SG teams fell into place behind him, ready to trap their quarry.

* * *

Snake sneezed suddenly, and he groaned softly to himself.

"What was that noise!" A patrolling sentry asked out loud, and Snake froze. The guard walked down the intersection toward him and Snake readied himself to attack. Just as the soldier was about to round the corner, his radio began to squawk loudly.

"_Da?_" the guard answered, to which the radio responded with crisp instructions, after which he turned and started walking away from Snake at a quick pace. As he was walking away, alarms began to sound.

_Right on time,_ Snake mused to himself. Walking quickly he found his way as fast as he could to the center of the base, where prisoners were likely to be held. Finally he came to a locked door that required more than a toothpick and a skilled hand to open. Crouching out of sight, he put his hand to his ear and called the number saved to it.

"Otacon, I think I'm here," he said into his mic.

"Oh? Here let me check," the nasally voice on the other end of the link said, "Yup! If this place has any sort of practical design that's where they're at. You come up with a way to get them out yet?"

"I'm working on it," Snake said before severing the link.

Readdressing the door, Snake produced a small clump of C4 and pushed it into the lock. Pushing a detonator into the clay-like substance, Snake retreated to a safe distance. Covering his ears, Snake pushed down on the detonator and the explosive exploded with a loud BANG.

Quickly running down the hall, Snake ripped open the shredded remains of the door only to find himself face to face with a tall broad shouldered woman with a hammer. Snake dodged at the last second as the woman tried to bring the hammer down on his head.

"And where do ya think you're goin'?" the blond haired woman asked, "I'm God Killer number four…and I'm here to take you into custody, Snake."

Snake had his pistol out and trained on Number Six in an instant, "How do you know who I am?" he growled.

Number Six gave a shrill laugh, "How do you think you got the plans to this place? Or that we knew to lure you here with 'leaked' files of a new metal gear prototype?"

Snake swore under his breath, it had been a trap after all.

* * *

"_Alohomora," _Harry murmured, hand outstretched for the lock on his cage. The lock quivered for a couple seconds, and remained still.

Cao Cao gave a snort of laughter, "Was that it? That was our masterful plan?"

"I usually have a wand!" Harry snapped, "You think you could slice your way out of a paper bag without that sword you love so much?"

"Enough," Yuna growled, and both of the other two captives turned to regard her. To their shock, the air around her glowed a bright crimson color, "Let me try my key…"

Bahumut, King of the Dragons materialized in her cell and smashed her cell door to pieces, and without hesitating ripped open the other cells and the door to the next room before dissolving as though somebody had splattered acid all over it, and Yuna dropped to the ground unconscious.

Gaping at the small summoner, both men rushed over to where she had fallen. Cao Cao quickly picked her up and swung her over his shoulders.

"Quickly boy! Now's our chance!" Cao Cao yelled, motioning Harry forward, "Lead us out of here!"

Harry nodded and ducked out of the now shattered door that had served as the entrance to their prison, to find an antechamber where their weapons had been stashed.

"Why do they always keep our captured weapons so close to where we are being kept prisoner?" Harry asked to no one in particular. This time the lock opened without a problem now that Harry had his wand back.

In the next room was a large hanger like area, complete with several aircraft which were parked in regular intervals around the room. Harry and Cao Cao looked around the room, looking for a way out when after a couple moments the far hanger wall began to open. A ribbon of white light spilled over the threshold and the silhouette of two people, one tall and muscular one short and wiry, became revealed.

"We can't let you do that," the bigger one said, a pair of double edged swords in his hands. They were shaped like tuning forks, with blades on each of the outside.

"Yeah! After all the trouble we went through to find you!" the smaller one growled, he held a pair of sickles, one wreathed in blue flames and the other in black.

"I don't think you have a choice!" Harry snarled, wand held at the ready. Cao Cao dropped Yuna against the wall of the hanger carefully before drawing his own sword and turning toward their two opponents.

"You are just another obstacle in my ambition," Hero of Chaos growled.

"I love it when they say that!" the smaller of the pair cackled, "It makes it so much fun to rip them apart!"

"We need them alive, Five," the bigger man said calmly, "At least for now."

"If you say so Three."

The pair moved suddenly, the bigger one raised his arms and clinked the two swords together, suddenly making a pitch that screamed into the ears of both Harry and Cao Cao. While the two bent over in pain, Five slammed his sickles on the concrete floor sending a long streak of ice along the floor touching the feet of the two escapees. Their feet froze to the floor instantly, rendering them unable to move.

"There, you see?" Three said bringing his bizarre weapons down, careful not to touch anything so as to keep their paralyzing hymn playing.

"Look, the boy is trying to speak," Five laughed, "What was that? I couldn't hear you boy," the small man took another step toward the two stunned men.

Harry pulled his wand hand away from his ear and yelled, "_A-accio!" _pointing behind their attackers.

The two God Killer's eyes widened and they turned around to see a large Russian Hind come barreling end over end on top of them. They quickly scattered and the paralyzing tune of Three's forks stopped while he sprawled on the concrete. Harry acted quickly, and pointing with his wand at their feet and green fire spread along the floor melting their bonds.

"Thank you, boy," Cao Cao yelled, running forward at number Five before he could recover.

Harry motioned with his wand and the Hind stopped flying toward him and was instead thrown against the hanger wall. Turning his attention to Three, he pointed his wand at the swords in his hands and yelled loudly, "_Silenco!"_

Three came to his feet and smacked his swords against the ground, only to find that nothing happened. They had been silenced, and he looked up in shock at his opponent.

"The silence spell works to prevent things from vibrating to create sound," Harry explained, "Usually it would stop a person from using their voice…but here it works just as well."

The large man regarded his opponent with cool eyes, but kept silent. Without warning, the large man charged Harry, but the young wizard was ready for him, "_Locomotor Mortis," _he snarled, and the God Killer's legs snapped together and he fell forward. As he fell though, he flung one of his swords at Harry, and the sword caught the side of his leg as Harry went down in a heap. Five got to his feet with some difficulty and, giving Harry a glare, began to strain himself against the magical bonds that held him. Harry watched in horror as, after a few seconds, the binding curse on Five's legs snapped as though it had been tape that had held them together.

The big man stretched for a moment before he started toward Harry again, swords upraised. Gulping silently Harry raised his wand, but before either could attack the other Three came flying from across the hanger and smacked into the taller Five. "I've fought against the greatest warriors and sorcerers in all of the Three Kingdoms!" Cao Cao screamed, "I will _not _be bested by the likes of you!"

Harry ran to the side of the Cao Cao and squared off against their opponents as Three and Five got to their feet.

Both God Killer's faces were dark, "You do not understand what you do," Five said. "I understand that you killed my friends," Harry shot back.

Three and Five traded looks with each other, "I do not understand," Three murmured to five, "They were not this strong when they were apart!"

"Then it would appear that they are stronger in numbers," Five whispered back.

An explosion rocked the hanger, and number Four came crashing through the ceiling, landed on her chest and bounced until she came to a halt on her back. Pushing herself up took a great deal of effort, and when she did she stared with shock through the hole that she had come from. "How? You should have run out of rockets by now! Where were you keeping them all?" She demanded.

Snake stepped through the hole that had been made by the flying God Killer, an RPG on his shoulder. Taking one hand off the long tube-like weapon and with fingers slightly spread he tapped the headband that was wrapped around his forehead, "Infinite ammo," he said gruffly.

The two other God Killers rushed to their comrade's aid, Five picked up the large woman and threw her over his shoulders, "I think a retreat is in order!" he said and they ran off toward the entrance that they had come from, Three covering their retreat.

Harry and Cao Cao turned to reguard the newcomer, "Who are you!" Cao Cao demanded.

"Who are the Patriots?" Snake asked, the RPG gone from his hands suddenly. Instead he was holding an M4 rifle, pointed right at Cao Cao's chest.

"La-Li-Lu-Le-Lo," both Harry and Cao Cao said together automatically, before looking at one another astonished.

"How…" Harry began.

Snake lowered his weapon, "Name's Snake. I'm here to get you out of here."

* * *

Larry brought the Mongoose to a halt, the lonely eye of the Stargate void of life. A wind hallowed ominously over the plain it was on. Larry stepped off his ATV, and reached out with his senses. Nothing, but it's not like that meant anything, the Vong did not appear in the Force like all other life did. "Let's go," Larry said as the remainder of the vehicles together. Without delay, the Jedi pulled out his PDA and began to dial the gate to the location that had been given to him by Nikita. "I'll go through first," Larry said, "Then Fox and Tex, then the _Ta'veren_ and then everybody else." The small squad nodded their consent and Larry pushed the last button, and as with every stargate, the event horizon appeared like usual.

"Let's do this," lightsaber at the ready, Larry walked forward through the stargate.

* * *

By the time Snake, Harry, Yuna, and Cao Cao made it back to the gate the forces of the God Killers were in a full fire fight with the SG teams that Snake had lured through the gate.

"Otacon, it's working," Snake said into the Codec.

"That's good Snake, how's the gate looking?" Otacon replied.

Snake paused and glanced over the rock behind which he was hiding, his eyes widened slightly and he ducked back down as a rocket flew over his head and exploded behind him.

"Crowded," Snake replied, "How are we supposed to get past all that?"

"Aren't these friends of yours?" Harry shouted over the gunfire.

"…Not exactly."

Yuna shook her head, "I cannot summon another Aeon," she offered, "This place…makes it difficult."

The small group of heroes looked at each other solemnly, when suddenly the stargate activated. The two fighting parties seemed not to notice until the event horizon appeared, and the fighting stopped briefly. Out of the gate stepped a tall, broad shouldered man with dark red hair and blue-grey eyes. He was dressed in a red tunic with a black and red cloak with sleeves cut away to reveal gold-red dragons that curled up his arms, like tattoos.

The fighting factions regarded the newcomer solemnly, and he regarded them in the same manner. After a moment, his eyes shot to directly where the companions were hiding and he spoke, "I am Rand al'Thor, the Dragon Reborn! I am _Ta'veren!" _

Several of the God Killers pointed their weapons at the Dragon Reborn and opened fire. Their bullets stopped in the air around him, before falling harmlessly to the ground.

"We should use this chance!" Cao Cao declared as the fighting around them resumed. The others stood up quickly and ran as quickly as they could toward the stargate.

Rand regarded the others cooly, "He said that one of you would know where to travel next," he said calmly. Bullets pinged all around them, but none touched the collected _Ta'veren._

"I got it," Snake said gruffly. He walked over to the dialing interface in front of the gate and began pushing symbols in sequence before pushing the large orange orb that sat in its center, "This is what I was told to do next."

The gate opened, and Yuna went through first, followed by Harry, Cao Cao, Snake, and last…a very calm Rand.

"Hello?" Larry asked, "Is there anyone there?"

There was nothing but darkness around him, no way to tell what direction he was facing, when suddenly a bright light appeared in front of him. Standing in the bright circle of light was Carth…complete with a long tan trench coat and holding his gunblade.

"Hello Harrod," He said grinning, "You've finally made it."

"Carth?" Larry asked.

"In a manner of speaking," the image shifted and became Allied…and then again to become John Call, before shifting back to Carth.

Larry blinked, "I don't understand."

"Naturally…so I'll explain…but I'll have to start from the beginning," Carth paused briefly, "How do you think that DreamLand was created?"

"Well, I don't know…I would imagine it required a lot of hardware," Larry replied after a moment.

Carth grinned, "Why yes, more than you would know. But no ordinary computer would be able to handle the processing power required to run an interactive immersive environment like this."

"So…how?"

"Well, there is one thing that is able to run such a complex system," Carth took a step forward and tapped Larry's forehead.

"The mind?"

"That's correct!" Carth said, "So in order to make it possible to create such a world, John Call used himself and six others to create a network able to support the immense data necessary to run DreamLand."

Larry remained silent, "The problem is that John's own mind took on so much of the processing power required to run the system…and that put a strain on his psyche…one that no other human in history has ever had to bear," Carth continued, "It shattered into different parts."

"You're one of those parts, aren't you?" Larry asked.

Carth grinned, "Yes, I am …I what is left of John's ability to love."

"Well, then what about the one who keeps appearing in the game? The one who's talked to me?" Larry asked.

"Ah, well, that is the part of him who managed to retain control over his body and the rest of his mind…he is pure hatred," Carth said sadly, "Every single _Ta'veren_ in the game represents some aspect of the Creator's psyche or the things he believe in strongly enough to affect his mind.

"Ambition," an image of Cao Cao appeared, "Fate," Link appeared, "Duty," Harry Potter appeared, "Loyalty," Aragorn, "Honor," Solid Snake, "Power," The Dragon Reborn, "Faith," The High Summoner, Yuna.

"Even though Hatred took over DreamLand and John Call's mind these were feelings he was unable to be rid of completely. So he sent them to the different parts of DreamLand as major NPCs and pitted them against their own demons. Voldemort, Liquid Snake, the Dark One, etc," Carth continued, "Only by gathering them in one place would it be possible for their collective ability even stand a chance against him."

"It can't be that simple," Larry said, "If he's that smart he must have realized that somebody would have tried to do exactly that. There's gotta be a fail-safe in place."

"Indeed," Carth motioned to the room around him, "This room is a reflection of DreamLand. Normally it's at least illuminated, but when the _Ta'veren_ were taken from their various locations nothing stood in the way of Hatred's extension. Almost all of DreamLand has been immersed in this darkness, the players, the NPCs, all of the worlds. It makes it almost impossible for people to move and coordinate when they're locked in a struggle for their life."

"Their life?" Larry asked.

"Quite literally. John's hatred extends to the whole human race, with the millions of people in game he now holds as hostages…well you get the idea. Whereas before a death in the World was only a temporary setback, now the game gives more serious consequences."

"Sithspawn," John swore.

Carth raised an eyebrow in surprise, "I didn't take you for a role-player."

John shrugged, "What do I have to do with this?"

Carth's image shifted again, this time to that of a crippled and hunchbacked old man, a leper, "Because this is all that is left of me now," he rasped, "Time after time again, Hatred has found me and tortured me squeezing me until there is nothing left. I can no longer be the champion that is needed to fight Hatred head on…only you can do that as the Worlds only _Ta'veren_."

John was silent for a long moment before he nodded, "You said that there was John's mind and six others who make up DreamLand?"

The leper nodded, "You've already met them. Unlike the original they still retain most of their former selves, but they cannot leave DreamLand like Hatred can. You have one that follows you still."

"Beyond, and the other God Killers," Larry said, "Where are the other _Ta'veren_?"

"The address through the gate that was given to you sent the _Ta'veren_ to fight the forces of Hatred on their own worlds, the only way to ensure his destruction is to force the fight between all elements of him," the light around Carth/Allied/the leper flickered.

"And it seems he is on his way here, to fight you."

"Already here, as a matter of fact," the light shifted and there stood John Call ten feet away, head and shoulders taller than he had been when he had last seen DreamLand's administrator. He was dressed in armor as black as the room around him and in his hand was a Heron Marked blade.

The leper shifted to regard his rival, "Hate," he said coolly.

"Love," Hate sneered, "For the last time," Hate opened his gauntleted hand and the old man flew across the room, and was impaled on the outstretched sword. Love groaned softly, and Hate lifted him above his head and ripped him in half before throwing him away into the darkness.

The light that was left in the room faded to pitch black, and after eerie silence the voice of Hate echoed through the darkness, "And now _Ta'veren_, you die!"


End file.
